OKC may extend mask ordinance

The Oklahoma City Council on Tuesday will consider extending the city' s mask ordinance through Nov. 30.

With key measures of the COVID-19 pandemic's severity in retreat, Mayor David Holt said Friday he doesn't think declines can be attributed to anything else.

But he advised against complacency, saying, “We can't just wear the mask when numbers are high.”

The council voted a month ago to require masks in public places indoors.

Since then, the 30- day trend lines have begun to show declines in the Oklahoma City metro area in daily new cases and hospitalizations.

Additionally, state data shows communities with a mask ordinance have had a greater decrease in new cases than communities without a mask ordinance, Emergency Management Director Frank Barnes said.

The three metro area count i es ( Oklahoma, Cleveland and Canadian) reported a decrease of 42 hospitalizations

Thursday, to 137.

Holt said it was the lowest level since July 1. The figure rose 22 to 159 Friday.

There were 215 new metro infections Friday, down from 255 Thursday.

Statewide, the Health Department reported 794 new cases Friday, dropping the seven-day average to its lowest level in a month.

Holt said he was most closely watching hospitalizations, in part because they are reported in real time, while new case reports can lag.

While the daily hospitalizations number has dropped from more than 200 in the past 10 days, he said, “We're still pretty high.”

“We still have work to do,” Holt said.

“We really need to get those numbers down.”

He said he worries most about residents letting down their guard when numbers begin looking better.

“We are still in a global pandemic,” Holt said.

The city council voted 7-2 on July 17 to enact the mask ordinance.

With some exceptions, it requires masks indoor sin public places.

Public health officials say masks are effective in reducing spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

The ordinance took effect immediately. Holt observed that ,“like clockwork,” it was showing positive results three weeks after going on the books.

Without a next ensi on, Oklahoma City' s ordinance expires Sept. 8. If the council agrees, the final vote on extending it will be Sept. 1.

Norman's mask or dinance runs through Nov. 30. Midwest City will consider an extension Sept. 22. Edmond's ordinance takes effect Aug. 26.

Only three of the top 11 ZIP codes for new cases Friday were in the Oklahoma City area ( 73102, 73119, 73129) while six were in Tulsa and vicinity.

Oklahoma City's emergency management office began tracking 30-day trends this week in key pandemic metrics.

Since emergency orders including shelter-in-place have been rescinded, the previous 14- day window was“too short of an analysis period to see our overall progress ,” said Barnes, the emergency management director.

The 30- day window is more suitable to evaluate long-term trends, he said in this week' s situation reports.

“We still have work to do. We really need to get those numbers down.”

Mayor David Holt