Mayor Holt Pleas For Safety During Holiday Season

Oklahoma City mayor David Holt expressed his concerns regarding the rising COVID-19 cases during a Wednesday news conference.

Oklahoma City is averaging about 1,000 new virus cases daily. With the approximately 1.4 million people living in the city, the math averages out to around 14,000 new positive cases every two weeks.

"That's just people who took the test,” Holt said. “You have to assume that in every room, one person has COVID-19.”

Holt asked OKC residents for a “Power 10” just before Thanksgiving as a way to slow the spread of the virus. While the city saw a slight decline, it did not last.

"Thanksgiving wiped out our ‘Power 10’ gains," Holt said. "Two weeks after Memorial Day, cases jumped 400 percent. In the two weeks after July 4th, cases doubled. In the two weeks, Labor Day cases doubled."

Governor Kevin Stitt said Wednesday that 21,000 Oklahomans have been vaccinated. Stitt hopes to move into phase two of the state’s vaccine distribution plan sometime next week.

Meanwhile, there is still a waiting period before people can roll up their sleeves.

"But the reality is, you are not going to that vaccine for months," Holt said.

"Right now, this will be a phased process until Oklahoma County receives enough vaccines to begin vaccinating at a larger scale," Oklahoma City-County Health Department executive director Dr. Patrick McGough said. 

Oklahoma County has received over 10,000 Pfizer vaccines and recently took in over 6,000 Moderna vaccines. While widespread vaccinations are not yet available, health officials are preparing for what that could look like.

"A drive-thru is not very effective,” Dr. McGough said. “We have to take the vaccine to where people can get it and carefully wait while they see what their response is to the vaccine.”