Fueled by the delta variant and low vaccination rates, COVID-related hospitalizations nearly tripled in the last two weeks in Oklahoma, said Aaron Wendelboe, an epidemiologist with the University of Oklahoma’s College of Public Health.
“This situation is really looking grim, with a greater increase in cases and hospitalizations than I expected for mid-summer,” Wendelboe said.
In response to the recent surge, Oklahoma health experts said an emergency declaration from the governor would give hospitals needed flexibility in how they use their facilities to respond to COVID-19, and it would open the door for school districts to impose mask requirements.
Health leaders, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, have recommended all children wear masks at school this fall whether they’re vaccinated or not. Currently, only children 12 and older are eligible for a vaccine.
“I’m a family doc. We do a lot of preventive maintenance,” said Dr. Mary Clarke, the president of the Oklahoma State Medical Association. “It’s unfortunate that we know what is going to happen, and we know how to prevent it. And yet, we don’t have the ability for people to say anything and do anything about it right now.”
When Gov. Kevin Stitt declared a statewide health emergency last year, it let hospitals cut through red tape and adapt to the crisis in a way they otherwise couldn't.
The emergency order allowed hospital workers to convert conference rooms into makeshift hospital rooms for non-COVID patients in Stillwater, Clarke said. But now, if hospitals have more patients who need care than what they have capacity for, they’d have to transfer them elsewhere.
That’s especially troubling as hospital beds are filling up in parts of the state, experts said. Hospitals were already busier than usual treating patients who had to put off care during the pandemic, even before the latest COVID-19 wave began.
“We’ve got to start having a coordinated, cohesive statewide response to prepare for this new wave,” said Dr. George Monks, a former president of the Oklahoma State Medical Association, who is among the state’s health leaders who want to see an emergency order reinstated.
Stitt’s original emergency declaration was in place for more than a year before he lifted it on May 4.
An emergency declaration is the only way school districts can impose mask mandates under Senate Bill 658, which the governor signed into law in May.
The governor’s office declined to comment Tuesday when asked whether the governor was considering reinstating an emergency declaration.
Asked whether the Oklahoma Health Department believes an emergency declaration is necessary in the wake of the surge in cases, state epidemiologist Jolianne Stone said in a statement that the department was monitoring the situation and is in “constant discussions with state leaders to provide the data to help make these decisions.”
She said the department was also working with hospitals and hospital associations to make sure they have the space and equipment they need to manage the increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
Without a statewide emergency declaration, “because of this new law, a lot of our superintendents’ and school leaderships’ hands are tied,” said Dr. Donna Tyungu, a pediatric infectious disease specialist.
“The virus has mutated in such a way that it is able to infect children much easier than the prior (strain) from last year,” Tyungu said. “I just really want that point to get across that even if schools cannot mandate masks, we do recommend that their children go to school in well-fitting masks — maybe even consider medical grade masks.”
Clarke said medical leaders are in alignment with what the state needs now: more vaccinations, and masking, especially for those who are unvaccinated.
But with the law preventing a mask mandate in schools in the absence of an emergency order, “we’re a little bit stuck in between a rock and a hard place,” Clarke said.
Wendelboe said it’s time for the state to examine its priorities.
“Do we want kids in the classroom or not? I think we do,” he said. “If that’s the priority, then we need to think about policies that help us do that.”
He said the pandemic has become a political issue rather than a health one.
“One of the best ways to make it more of a health issue is to let the health professionals deal with the pandemic and have a whole range of mitigation efforts,” Wendelboe said. “When policymakers make laws that restrict our ability to respond to a pandemic, that just makes it very difficult.”
Dr. Jean Hausheer, chair of the Healthier Oklahoma Coalition, said there are still measures Oklahomans can take on their own to prevent the spread of the virus.
“Wash your hands, watch your distance,” she said. “Really, get your vaccine. That is the most mindful thing to do.”
To find a COVID-19 vaccine near you, visit vaccines.gov, or Oklahoma’s state vaccine scheduling portal at vaccinate.oklahoma.gov.
Staff writer Carmen Forman contributed to this report.
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