Washita County sees its 6th COVID death
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Council extends
The Cordell City Council extended its mask ordinance through the end of March during its regular monthly meeting on Jan. 19.
The vote was unanimous without discussion.
The council first passed its mask ordinance in late November 2020 when COVID-19 numbers were surging and after hearing a plea from Cordell hospital administrator Deborah Kifer.
Since November, COVID-19 positive cases have continued to rise in Washita County.
The week the council passed the mask ordinance, positive cases in Cordell were 79. Now, they stood at 289 (as of Monday), an increase of 266 percent. In the county, the number of positive cases were 274. On Monday, they stood at 968, an increase of 253 percent.
The mask mandate is wide-ranging. It calls for people to wear masks at all indoor places, including but not limited to businesses, churches, schools, banks, restaurants, bars, athletic facilities and public “communal” outdoor areas.
The ordinance also contains a section that covers social or physical distancing, which calls for 6 feet of distance between people who are not part of the same household while in a public accommodation, education institution or public setting.
The city’s ordinance defines “face coverings” as a covering that fully covers a person’s nose and mouth. It includes cloth face masks, towels, gaiters, scarves and bandanas as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control or the Oklahoma State Department of Health, and N95, KN 95, or other mask that would be appropriate for a healthcare setting, or a surgical mask.
There are exceptions to the mask ordinance, namely people who fall into the CDC’s guidance for those who should not wear face coverings due to a medical or mental health condition, or developmental disability. Those exempt should consider the use of a face shield, provided that said shield wraps around the sides of the wear’s face and extends below the chin, according to the ordinance.
Meanwhile, the Oklahoma State Department of Health reports that one more person has died in Washita County due to COVID-19.
The additional death brings to six the total number of people who have died in the county. Information on the latest death wasn’t available from the Oklahoma State Department of Health.
The total number testing positive in the county is now 968. It was 937 a week ago, an increase of 31 over last week. Two weeks ago the number was 887 and three weeks ago it stood at 814.
Of the 968 cases, 896 have recovered, the OSDH said.
Cordell has reported 289 positive cases, the most in the county. Of those, 265 have recovered. Last week there were 276 positive cases. Of those, 252 had recovered.
Burns Flat, which had 132 a week ago, now has positive 135 cases, the second highest number in the county. Of those, 125 have recovered, the OSDH said.
Burns Flat also has one of the reported deaths in the county.
Canute has 121, the same as last week and has the third highest number in the county. Sentinel has 101. Of the 121 cases in Canute, 112 have recovered and 96 have recovered in Sentinel.
Other communities in Washita County reporting positive cases and the number recovered include: Dill City 58 and 57; Rocky 32 and 31.
Statewide as of Monday 374,853, people have tested positive, there have been 3,293 deaths and 339,014 who have recovered. Active cases stand 32,546 at the OSDH said.
Last week there were 356,816 testing positive, there had been 2,994 deaths and 314,256 had recovered. There were 39,586 active cases a week ago.
This week on Monday, the OSDH reported 1,763 new positive cases confirmed and 14 additional deaths.
The OSDH reports 2.6 million people have tested negative.