OU Medical Center Doctors, Researchers Hold Roundtable To Discuss COVID-19

Oklahoma saw a record number of positive COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. OU Medical doctors said the surge in cases really started back at the beginning of June.

With cases on the rise, so are hospitalizations, according to doctors.

“Going forward we are going to see more deaths in Oklahoma because we have some very sick people hospitalized,” said Dr. Dale Bratzler, OU Medicine’s Enterprise Chief Quality Officer.

Medical professionals have contributed the spread to a number of different things, but at the top of the list is many people relaxing on wearing a mask when going out.

“If you happen to have the infection and if you sneeze and those droplets come out of your mouth then someone else inhales those that person can now get the disease,” said Dr. Bratzler.

With the new positive cases doctors note that many of them have been asymptomatic or have very mild signs of the virus.

“They wake up and don’t have the fever headache and cough - they just feel more fatigue and off,” said Dr. Jennifer Holter Chakrabarty, a Stephenson Cancer Center Oncologist.

On a positive note, researchers said things are moving along in coming up with a vaccine for COVID-19.

“There are 15 or so that are in clinical trials - the lead one is from AstraZeneca that is now on to phase three,” said Dr. William Hidlebrand, an OU researcher.

This has led researchers to predict that a vaccine could be ready to go as soon as early 2021. Until then doctors advise to stay vigilant since the virus isn’t going away anytime soon.

“Most coronaviruses are seasonal, but we aren’t seeing that with this one at all,” said Dr. Bratzler.