In some very exciting news, last week marked the first time that CCMH has been “COVID-Free” in over a year! While we know that more COVID-positive patients will enter our facility, it is important for all employees to take a step back and congratulate each other on the incredible compassion and leadership that all of us at CCMH have witnessed over the past year. We want to thank our Incident Command team for guiding us through uncharted waters. We also want to thank every employee for being patient with us as new updates came and went. We hope to continue on the path of normalcy with the decreasing trend of COVID in Southwest Oklahoma. While we are working on returning to normal, it is still a requirement from the CDC and CMS that all healthcare personnel continue to wear facemasks throughout the facility, regardless of vaccination status.
So what is on the horizon for COVID? Currently, the Oklahoma State Health Department is conducting “variant testing” on breakthrough cases for the few individuals that received their vaccination and still acquired COVID. While these cases are a very small percent of COVID cases, it is important to track if certain strains of COVID are more likely to work around the vaccination. There is some concern that the Delta variant of COVID may be less affected by the vaccine, but further scientific research is needed. We will update everyone if more information arises, but currently no Delta variants have been identified in Oklahoma. This is, however, another great reason to make sure you and your eligible family members get the COVID vaccine. The more people that are protected, the less chance these variants have of spreading throughout the country.