Death Toll Exceeds 1,100
As of Oct. 13, there were 101,493 confirmed cases of the Covid-19 virus in the state, according to the Oklahoma State Department of Health. 13,872 of those are active. There have been 15 deaths reported in the last 24 hours. This current death toll stands at 1,119.
In Blaine County, according to emergency management officials, there are 22 active cases.
There are 4 cases in Geary; 2 cases in Canton; 2 cases in Longdale; 5 cases in Okeene, zero in Hitchcock and 7 in Watonga. The cases are noted by zip code, so those ill may not live inside the city limits, just in the vicinity.
There are 7,804,199 cases cumulatively reported nationally, up 41,653 since the last numbers were released by Johns Hopkins University. There have been 215,085 deaths, up 317 since last report. Active cases in the U.S. tally at 4,482,386, up 9,685 while recoveries stand at 3,106,728 up 31,651 since the last report was made.
The Oklahoma State Department of Health, in partnership with Governor Kevin Stitt and federal, state and private industry leadership, announced October 7, by the establishment of the Oklahoma Pandemic Center for Innovation and Excellence (OPCIE), the first center of its kind in the nation at the intersection of agriculture, animal and human medicine, food safety, public health testing and preparedness.
Located in Stillwater, the center will serve as the state’s frontline of defense against any future biosecurity-threatening diseases and will leverage Oklahoma’s unique rural and urban assets to benefit public health.
This center will administratively bring together a breadth of capabilities both locally and nationally, and will include partnering with Oklahoma State University, the University of Oklahoma, the OSU College of Veterinary Medicine and numerous other public and private partners. The Public Health Lab will serve as a pillar of OPCIE and will include a human diagnostic/public health laboratory, a genetic biorepository and a multi-disciplinary basic science lab for human, animal, plant and food-related bioterrorism research.
OPCIE’s creation is being announced as part of the state Public Health Lab’s move to Stillwater. Coupled with OSDH’s move to downtown Oklahoma City, the creation of the OPCIE and the move of the PHL to the heart of rural Oklahoma in Stillwater will give the state a leg up in both rural and urban medicine for generations to come.