OKC pandemic report: ` The averages keep going up'

Situation report: Successive COVID-19 cycles starting from higher base

Friday's Oklahoma City Situation Report included this observation on the course followed by the pandemic: "Local hospitalizations will trend upward, then downward but not back to where they were before the upward trend. Then they will trend upward, then downward but not back to where they were before the upward trend. So, the averages keep going up. There was a time when the daily hospitalizations were around 150, then the average was around 200, and now it's over 250. Think of it like loading up a spring, but never completely releasing the load or tension."

Tweet of the week

"Please everyone, stop going places to eat or drink indoors. Please schools, don't go back to in-person learning. What are we doing."

— Ward 6 Councilwoman JoBeth Hamon (@jospacebear), on Thursday. Statewide, new COVID-19 cases have averaged around 1,000 per day or more for over a month. Hospitalizations and the number of ICU patients peaked last week. Tuesday, the Oklahoma City Council extended the city's mask mandate to Dec. 7.

Present/absent

The mayor and all eight city council members attended last week's meeting.

• The council deferred for two more weeks a decision on whether to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review a panhandling ordinance. An appeals court in

Denver ruled the ordinance was unconstitutional.

• The council allocated $2.75 million to minority business pandemic relief and about $50,000 in federal CARES Act funds to the Myriad Gardens and Scissortail Park foundations for COVID-19 expenses.

• The council voted 4-3 to designate Oct. 26 as Intersex Awareness Day.

Calendar

The city council meets at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 27. Find the agenda and instructions for dialing in under the Government tab at okc.gov.

Calendar: Voter countdown

Voter assistance with mailin ballots is being offered:

• Saturday, at Mosaic United Methodist Church, 3131 NW 50, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

• Saturday, at First Unitarian Church, 525 NW 13, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• Saturday, at Mayflower

Congregational Church, 3901 NW 63, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• Tuesdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Saturdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Tower Theatre, 425 NW 23, through Oct. 31.

• Sundays 1 to 5 p.m., Thursdays 5 to 9 p.m. and Fridays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Kindred Spirits at EastPoint, in the 1700 block of NE 23, through Nov. 1.

As of last Wednesday, the State Election Board reported a total of 303,269 absentee ballot requests statewide. Here's how many mail-in ballots had been received at metro-area county election boards, and those already mailed back as a percentage of those requested:

• Canadian County, 4,779, 34.9%.

• Cleveland, 13,814, 40.2% • Oklahoma, 38,734, 40.4%. Voting deadlines are coming up:

• According to the city of Oklahoma City, the U.S. Postal Service recommends requesting a mail-in ballot by Oct. 19 and mailing it back by Oct. 27.

• Early in-person voting is 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 29 and 30, and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 31 at county election boards.

• Polls will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 3.

Oklahoma City voters are casting ballots on nine charter amendments recommended by a Charter Review Committee co-chaired by Ward 8 Councilman Mark Stonecipher and Sharon Voorhees, both attorneys, and referred to voters by the city council.

Learn more at the Oklahoma State Election Board, ok.gov/elections, or call your county election board. In Oklahoma County, call 713-1515. For voter assistance events: Email VOICE Education Fund, okciaf@sbcglobal.net. League of Women Voters: okvoterguide.com or lwvok. org. The election is Nov. 3.