State Passes 93,000 Cases

As of Oct. 6, there were 93,346 confirmed cases of the Covid-19 virus in the state, according to the Oklahoma State Department of Health. 13,061 of those are active. There were no deaths reported in the last 24 hours. This current death toll stands at 1,066.

In Blaine County, according to emergency management officials, there are 22 active cases.

There 5 cases in Geary; 2 cases in Canton; 4 cases in Longdale; 6 cases in Okeene, one in Hitchcock and 4 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 7,457,402 cases cumulative reported nationally, up 39,557 since the last were released by Johns Hopkins University. There have been 210,181 deaths, up 460 since last report. Active cases in the U.S. tally at 4,312,079, up 15,654 while recoveries stand at 2,935,142 up 23,433 since the last report was made.

Many people are still left wondering how long you can be contagious before a positive virus test. Some studies have shown that people may be contagious for about two days before developing COVID-19 symptoms.

In fact, right before developing symptoms is when people are likely the most contagious, said Dr. Werner Bischoff, an infectious disease specialist at Wake Forest University.

People who never develop symptoms can spread infection, too. That is a problem because many people would never seek testing unless they devel oped symptoms or knew they’d been exposed.

But there is a more complicated part to this question: What if someone knows they were exposed but their virus test comes back negative -- could they still be contagious? Maybe.

A negative test within less than seven days after exposure "is a very, very poor indicator of whether you have virus on board,” said Dr. Alan Wells of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Some tests are less accurate than others, and you have to factor in the incubation period, he said.

A negative test between seven and 10 days of exposure is a better indicator, Wells said, but even then, some people might not test positive until later.

“That is why if you have had a credible exposure, you should wear a mask and you should self-quarantine if there’s any question,” he said.