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July 16, 2020
Date: _______________ Media & PR
405-521-6000
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Transportation
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7/16/2020 Trump reins in environmental law to speed big projects - The Oklahoman, 7/16/2020 Trump reins in environmental law to speed big projects By Kevin Freking and Aamer Madhani The Associated Press ATLANTA — President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he is rolling back a foundational Nixon-era environmental law that he says stifles infrastructure projects, but that is credited with keeping big construction projects from fouling up the environment and ensuring there is public input on major projects. “Together we’re reclaiming America’s proud heritage as a nation of builders and a nation that can get things done,” Trump said. Trump was in Atlanta to announce changes to National Environmental Policy Act regulations for how and when authorities must conduct environmental reviews, making it easier to build highways, pipelines, chemical and solar plants and other projects. The 1970 law changed environmental oversight in the United States by requiring federal agencies to consider whether a project would harm the air, land, water or wildlife, and giving the public the right of review and input. Critics called Trump’s move a cynical attempt to limit the public’s ability to examine and influence proposed projects under one of the country’s bedrock environmental protection laws. “This may be the single biggest giveaway to polluters in the past 40 years,” said Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group that works to save endangered species. Trump has made slashing government regulation a hallmark of his presidency and held it out as a way to boost jobs. Environmental groups say the regulatory rollbacks threaten public health and make it harder to curb global warming. With Congress and the administration divided over how to increase infrastructure investment, the president is relying on his deregulation push to demonstrate progress. Among the major changes in the new rule: limiting when federal environmental reviews of projects are mandated, and capping how long federal agencies and the public have to evaluate and comment on any environmental impact of a project. “We won’t get certain projects through for environmental reasons. They have to be environmentally sound. But you know what? We’re going to know in a year. We’re going to know in a year and a half. We’re not going to know in 20 years,” Trump said. NEPA requires all federal agencies to evaluate the potential environmental effects of proposed projects, but fewer than 1% percent of those reviews are the kind of complex and detailed review that Trump focused on — environmental impact statements. Environmental / Review Process digital.newsok.com/Olive/ODN/Oklahoman/PrintArticle.aspx?doc=DOK%2F2020%2F07%2F16&entity=ar00602&ts=20200716090617&uq=201910110… 1/2
7/16/2020 Trump reins in environmental law to speed big projects - The Oklahoman, 7/16/2020 Opponents say the changes the Trump administration made will have an inordinate impact on predominantly minority communities. More than 1 million African Americans live within a half-mile of natural gas facilities and face a cancer risk above the Environmental Protection Agency’s level of concern from toxins emitted by those facilities, according to a 2017 study by the Clean Air Task Force and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. digital.newsok.com/Olive/ODN/Oklahoman/PrintArticle.aspx?doc=DOK%2F2020%2F07%2F16&entity=ar00602&ts=20200716090617&uq=201910110… 2/2
7/16/2020 Page A9 | Tulsa World E-edition | tulsaworld.com
News
TOPICAL
Search for race massacre graves at
Oaklawn remains fruitless, but
scientists say they're 'not
disheartened'
By Randy Krehbiel Tulsa World
07.16.20
Search continues for mass graves from the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre
The test site at Oaklawn Cemetery continued to get bigger and deeper on Wednesday, but the results remained the same
— no sign of unmarked burials from Tulsa’s 1921 Race Massacre.
“We have not encountered evidence that we see as indicative of an obvious grave shaft,” said State Archeologist Kary
Stackelbeck. “We will be initiating other exploratory efforts using more traditional archeological techniques.”
Those “traditional” techniques include drilling into the soil for deep samples. One such sample Wednesday afternoon
revealed that the unmarked burials being sought are almost certainly not in the 10-foot-by-20-foot area designated for
the test site.
A portion of that site was excavated to a depth of 11 feet — about as deep as the city’s track hoe will reach. Drilling down
another 4 feet, researchers reached the water table, making that spot unlikely for burials.
Tulsa Graves Search / IDL // Div. 8
https://tulsaworld.com/eedition/page-a9/page_078baf5c-b098-52e0-8d12-efec6423d720.html 1/27/16/2020 Page A9 | Tulsa World E-edition | tulsaworld.com As a result, the researchers extended a trench off the southwest side of the original site to a length of 20 feet or more, with the intention of going further on Thursday. More drilling is also planned. “We are fully committed,” Stackelbeck said. “We are either going to nd the graves in this location, or we are going to determine they are not here.” Exactly what happens if that determination is made is unclear. Several other potential locations, including one or two in Oaklawn, have been identi ed, but it is up to the search oversight committee and, ultimately, the city to decide how to proceed. Stackelbeck and the archeological team have been reluctant to discuss a “Plan B,” saying they want to stay focused on the job at hand. The current location was chosen on the basis of promising geophysical research, records and oral history, but the geophysical ndings seem to have been misleading because of what the archeologists say is an unusual amount of “ ll,” or soil and other material dumped at the site many years ago. So the team is falling back on the traditional methods mentioned by Stackelbeck. On Wednesday, scientists with expertise in geology and soil science were brought in to help read strata exposed by the track hoe blade. “We are not at all disheartened,” Stackelbeck said. “We have all these other points of evidence … and, of course, the fact this is the only location in the cemetery void of marked burials in an otherwise full cemetery.” A live feed of the work is being streamed at facebook.com/1921Graves. Death certi cates were issued for 37 people — 25 black, 12 white — killed in the violence of May 31-June 1, 1921, but reports from the very rst indicated that the toll was actually higher and perhaps much higher. Over the years researchers have collected dozens of accounts of hastily disposed of bodies, some more plausible than others. Taken together, they make picking the most likely spots a dif cult proposition. Gallery: Test excavation in Tulsa Race Massacre mass graves search Gallery: Test excavations in Tulsa Race Massacre mass graves search https://tulsaworld.com/eedition/page-a9/page_078baf5c-b098-52e0-8d12-efec6423d720.html 2/2
7/16/2020 State seeks grant requests to install more EV chargers - The Oklahoman, 7/16/2020
State seeks grant requests to install more EV
chargers
By Jack Money
Business writer jmoney@oklahoman.com
Oklahoma is using additional
dollars from a legal settlement
to boost two programs intended
to help clear the state’s air.
Earlier this month, the agency
announced its ChargeOK
program has about $1.1 million
to award through grants that
would go to projects that
establish publicly accessible
charging stations for light-duty
electric vehicles in certain parts
of the state.
In particular, it seeks for
charging stations to be built
near Altus, Alva, Atoka, Boise
City, Broken Bow, Checotah,
A public automobile charging station is located near the Civic Center Music
Hall in Oklahoma City. [THE OKLAHOMAN ARCHIVES] Clinton and Duncan.
It also would like to see
stations be built near
Hennessey, Hobart, Laverne, Okemah, Perry, Poteau and Watonga.
The state aims to further blanket itself with EV charging stations.
Officials noted that only locations within 10 miles of each of those communities would be eligible to use
grant dollars.
“The Volkswagen settlement funds have been instrumental in increasing electric vehicle capabilities and in
the reduction of emissions in Oklahoma,” said Erin Hatfield, spokeswoman for the state agency.
“Expanding transportation options will help to improve the wellbeing of our citizens and bolster future
economic opportunities.”
Applications will be accepted through Sept.8.
The other involves the settlement-related “On-Road” program, which is making $3.5 million available to
support engine upgrades for fleets of private and public owned diesel vehicles.
Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Grant
digital.newsok.com/Olive/ODN/Oklahoman/PrintArticle.aspx?doc=DOK%2F2020%2F07%2F16&entity=ar02000&ts=20200716090617&uq=201910110… 1/27/16/2020 State seeks grant requests to install more EV chargers - The Oklahoman, 7/16/2020 The On-Road program, officials said, aims to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by replacing or repowering older vehicles with newer diesel or alternative fueled vehicles. Owners of heavy and medium trucks and bus fleets can apply for dollars they have to costmatch to use, officials said. The On-Road program’s dollars are not used to make upgrades to school bus fleets, they said. Applications will be accepted through Sept. 30 for the On-Road program. Dollars for both funds are flowing from a $2.7 billion settlement that the U.S. Environmental Protection Association reached in 2016 with Volkswagen. The settlement was reached while the regulator was investigating complaints the automaker had provided false emissions data related to diesel power vehicles it was building and selling in the U.S. So far (not including current offers), Oklahoma has distributed about $5.2 million of settlement-related funds, officials said Wednesday. digital.newsok.com/Olive/ODN/Oklahoman/PrintArticle.aspx?doc=DOK%2F2020%2F07%2F16&entity=ar02000&ts=20200716090617&uq=201910110… 2/2
7/16/2020 Page A4 | Tulsa World E-edition | tulsaworld.com
News
COVID-19: Oklahoma sees more than
1,000 new cases for rst time, Gov.
Stitt among them
By Harrison Grimwood Tulsa World
07.16.20
Gov. Kevin Stitt announces he has COVID-19 in news conference July 15
Gov. Kevin Stitt announces he has COVID-19 in news conference July 15
Gov. Kevin Stitt announces he has COVID-19 in news conference July 15
State health of cials reported 1,075 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, the same day Gov. Kevin Stitt announced he
has tested positive for COVID-19.
Wednesday was the rst day that Oklahoma’s daily new case count exceeded 1,000. There have been 22,813 con rmed
cases of the disease since early March.
The death toll has risen to 432 across the state. As of Wednesday evening, a state-high 638 patients — con rmed cases
and people under investigation for the disease — were hospitalized, according to Oklahoma State Department of Health
data. Of those patients, 235 were in the ICU. Across the state, adult ICU capacity dropped to 16% following a survey of
hospitals. Oklahoma’s overall percent positive rate is 5.6%
Four deaths were reported Wednesday in residents from Tulsa, Oklahoma, Creek and Kay counties; all were older than 65.
“We need to take this virus very seriously; we need to come together and make sure each one of us is doing the best we
can to slow the spread,” Stitt said during a virtual news conference on Wednesday. “I talk all the time about ‘the new
normal’, because we know it’s here in Oklahoma.”
Coronavirus Cases Update
https://tulsaworld.com/eedition/page-a4/page_fb59153b-5eb0-515d-8630-0d46c18e6a0d.html 1/27/16/2020 Page A4 | Tulsa World E-edition | tulsaworld.com Tulsa County’s case count went up by 178 in Wednesday’s reporting, totaling 5,626 cases since early March, according to state data. Seventy-nine Tulsa County residents have died from the disease. The county’s 7-day rolling average was 151 on Wednesday. Stitt, as of his announcement that he is COVID-19 positive, maintained his position that he would not mandate mask- wearing. Stitt was seen wearing a mask at a COVID-19 brie ng at the end of June, but not at a subsequent brie ng in July. Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation President Dr. Stephen Prescott said in a statement Tuesday that masks serve as a way to protect fellow Oklahomans. “If we wear masks in large enough numbers, it greatly reduces the spread of the virus,” said Prescott, a physician and medical researcher. “That’s not a political statement. That is a medically proven fact.” Oklahoma is one of many states experiencing widespread community spread of the disease. The state’s 7-day rolling average, a metric used to prevent single data points or days from skewing projections, has risen to 703. The new rolling average is again a new high. OSDH staff urge “all Oklahomans to keep in mind that COVID-19 is still in our communities and remains a threat to public health,” according to a statement from the agency. OSDH spokeswoman Kristin Davis said they recommend adhering to preventative measures such as maintaining social distancing; wearing a mask in public places, particularly where social distancing is dif cult; and frequently washing one’s hands or using hand sanitizer. “That’s really the best we can do against this virus until there is a vaccine,” Davis said. COVID-19 is most commonly spread through respiratory droplets, so public health of cials encourage people to wear a mask or cloth face covering and to stay at least 6 feet from people who don’t live with them. Masks are vital when social distancing is dif cult. A snug t that covers the mouth and nose is the most effective, according to public health of cials. A cloth face mask curtails the amount of respiratory droplets from the wearer, preventing the unknowing spread of the virus. Health experts have previously said that wearing a mask can help to serve as a reminder to be aware of social distancing guidelines. In addition, people should avoid being in group or mass gatherings. Frequent and thorough handwashing with soap and water or use of hand sanitizer also can help prevent the spread of the disease, health experts say. Those seeking to be tested for COVID-19 may nd resources on the Oklahoma State Department of Health’s website, where testing sites are listed by county. https://tulsaworld.com/eedition/page-a4/page_fb59153b-5eb0-515d-8630-0d46c18e6a0d.html 2/2
7/16/2020 Stitt tests positive for COVID-19 - The Oklahoman, 7/16/2020
Stitt tests positive for COVID-19
Despite diagnosis, governor says he still opposes implementing
statewide mask mandate
By Carmen Forman
Staff writer cforman@oklahoman.com
Gov.
Kevin Stitt
tested
positive
for
COVID-
Frye 19 on
Tuesday,
becoming
the first governor to have
caught the highly contagious
virus.
Despite the diagnosis, Stitt said
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt announced Wednesday he has tested positive for Wednesday he has no plans to
COVID-19. [ZOOM SCREENGRAB] enforce stricter measures to
reduce the surge of coronavirus
cases and hospitalizations in
Oklahoma.
Oklahoma’s first-term Republican governor announced his positive test results on a conference call with
reporters.
“I personally get tested periodically throughout this whole thing,” Stitt said. “I got tested yesterday for
COVID-19, and the results came back positive.” The governor was first tested for COVID-19 on June 18
ahead of an event at the White House.
Stitt said he is feeling fine, despite minor aches. He has not developed a fever. He plans to work from
home and self-isolate from his family and others until the state’s top health official recommends otherwise.
First lady Sarah Stitt and the Stitts’ six children tested negative for the virus, the governor said.
Stitt’s announcement comes as Oklahoma is seeing a surge of COVID-19 cases, and Stitt’s administration
has been criticized for not doing more to respond to the state’s growing number of positive cases and
hospitalizations.
After making his diagnosis public, Stitt said he still opposes implementing a statewide mask mandate,
saying he can’t fathom how such a policy would be enforced.
Coronavirus / Stitt
digital.newsok.com/Olive/ODN/Oklahoman/PrintArticle.aspx?doc=DOK%2F2020%2F07%2F16&entity=ar00100&ts=20200716090617&uq=201910110… 1/37/16/2020 Stitt tests positive for COVID-19 - The Oklahoman, 7/16/2020 Although Stitt has encouraged Oklahomans to wear a face mask in public when social distancing is not possible, Stitt rarely wears a mask in public. Public health officials say wearing a mask in public can reduce the spread of COVID-19. Stitt also reiterated his hesitance to backtrack on the state’s reopening. Although hospitalizations due to complications from COVID-19 have nearly surpassed the peak the state set on March 31, Stitt said Oklahoma is not coming close to reaching its hospital capacity. Oklahoma would have to see roughly 7,200 new positive cases every day for 14 days for the state to approach its hospital capacity, Stitt said. “That’s plenty of runway for us to look, and watch, and make adjustments as we need to going forward,” he said. But Oklahoma State Medical Association President George Monks said the situation in Oklahoma’s hospitals is more dire. Hospital and intensive care unit capacity is growing tight, he said. State leaders also say they have a surge plan to create additional hospital capacity, but it’s going to be nearly impossible to find nurses and doctors to staff those additional beds, making them useless, Monks said. “It’s insensitive and immoral just to say, ‘we have plenty of bed space, so let’s just let things keep going,’” he said. “It’s not a good approach to managing this virus.” Monks also is calling on the state Health Department to release detailed data about the number of available hospital and ICU beds at hospitals throughout the state. Others at risk? Stitt attended President Donald Trump’s June 20 campaign rally in Tulsa, and was photographed not wearing a mask. Stitt and Health Commissioner Lance Frye said there is no way the governor could have caught COVID-19 at the rally because the event was nearly a month ago. “I don’t think there was any way it was at the president’s rally,” Stitt said. “It was too long ago for it to be dormant, based on the science.” Where Stitt became infected is unknown as it could have happened anytime in the past two weeks, Frye said. Stitt is the first governor to test positive for the virus. As he was fielding questions from reporters, Stitt said he was likely getting lots of texts from other governors. Stitt said he plans to be open with other leaders and the public about how he is feeling in the coming days. ‘I was pretty shocked that I was the first governor to get it,” he said. By Wednesday afternoon, Stitt was trending on Twitter. On Tuesday, Stitt led a Commissioners of the Land Office meeting at the state Capitol and sat at a conference table near Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell and Secretary of Agriculture Blayne Arthur. Despite being in digital.newsok.com/Olive/ODN/Oklahoman/PrintArticle.aspx?doc=DOK%2F2020%2F07%2F16&entity=ar00100&ts=20200716090617&uq=201910110… 2/3
7/16/2020 Stitt tests positive for COVID-19 - The Oklahoman, 7/16/2020 close quarters, neither Stitt nor Pinnell wore a mask. Stitt said he contacted Pinnell and Arthur after receiving his positive diagnosis. In a Facebook post, Pinnell said he plans to get tested for COVID-19 and will quarantine at home until he receives his results. Stitt also said he worked with Frye and contact tracers at the state Health Department to determine others he may have come in contact with in recent days. The governor said leadership at the Health Department said he was not contagious before Saturday, but it’s unclear how they came to that conclusion. A Vietnamese restaurant in Tulsa where Stitt dined last week announced its temporary closure in order to get staff tested and the space professionally disinfected. On Thursday, Stitt and his wife attended the funeral for fallen Tulsa police Sgt. Craig Johnson. Later the same day, the governor hosted a news conference at the state Capitol. digital.newsok.com/Olive/ODN/Oklahoman/PrintArticle.aspx?doc=DOK%2F2020%2F07%2F16&entity=ar00100&ts=20200716090617&uq=201910110… 3/3
7/16/2020 Page A1 | Tulsa World E-edition | tulsaworld.com
Government-and-politics
TOPICAL FEATURED
Tulsa city councilors approve face
mask ordinance
By Kevin Can eld Tulsa World
07.15.20
Tulsa city councilors voted 7-2 on Wednesday to approve a face covering ordinance.
Councilors Cass Fahler and Connie Dodson voted against the measure.
During Wednesday night’s meeting, councilors essentially scrapped Mayor G.T. Bynum’s proposed ordinance, which was
created by the city Legal Department and the Tulsa Health Department, and replaced it with one that draws heavily from
the Stillwater mask ordinance. The change was made in part because the Stillwater ordinance provided clearer de nitions,
councilors said.
The ordinance applies to people 18 years of age and older and says those “located within Public Service Areas of Places of
Public Accommodation or an Educational Building are required to wear face coverings at all times when present therein.
Except as otherwise provided herein, persons in any Public Setting wherein social or physical distancing cannot be
maintained are required to wear face coverings.”
The ordinance includes an exception for people eating and drinking in restaurants. People visiting a place de ned as a
“Public Setting,” such as workplaces, houses of worship, gyms and child care facilities, will be required to wear a mask when
physical distancing cannot be maintained.
The ordinance will go into effect when Bynum signs it. The mayor said after Wednesday’s meeting that he expects to do so
at 9 a.m. Thursday.
There is no speci c ne or penalty for violators of the ordinance. Those who refuse to wear a face covering, though, can be
subject to prosecution under criminal trespassing, disturbing the peace or a similar offense.
The ordinance will expire when the mayor’s civil emergency order expires Nov. 30 or when the ordinance is repealed,
modi ed or extended by the City Council, whichever comes rst.
The ordinance includes the following exceptions:
• People who fall into the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance for those who should not wear Face
Coverings due to a medical or mental health condition or developmental disability;
• Children younger than 18
• Restaurant patrons while they are eating or drinking
Coronavirus / Tulsa Mask Requirements
https://tulsaworld.com/eedition/page-a1/page_24cf9507-e475-5847-9b3e-efd9a40319ba.html 1/47/16/2020 Page A1 | Tulsa World E-edition | tulsaworld.com • People exercising in communal outdoor spaces or walking or exercising with others from the same household in communal outdoor spaces, as long as physical distancing is maintained. People congregating in communal outdoor spaces with other people not from their same household are required to wear face coverings when physical distancing is not maintained • Settings where it is not practical or feasible to wear a face covering, such as while obtaining dental services or medical treatments or while swimming • Occupants in a personal vehicle, personal of ce or similarly private space while people not from the person’s household are not present • Private homes • Of ces and workplaces that are not public service areas where physical distancing between employees and other occupants can be consistently maintained during hours of operation. The council’s decision comes on the same day Gov. Kevin Stitt and Tulsa County Commissioner Karen Keith announced that they have tested positive for the virus. Prior to Wednesday’s meetings, councilors received letters supporting a mask ordinance from the superintendents of Tulsa, Jenks and Union public schools. Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Deborah Gist said Wednesday morning that there is no question that if more people would wear masks the virus could be better contained. “We need to get this trajectory turned around,” she said. “We want to be back in school; we need to be back in school. Our children need to be back in school. Their families need them to be back in school, and our teachers want to see them back in school.” City councilors spent 2½ hours in a committee meeting Wednesday afternoon discussing the proposed face covering ordinance with public health of cials and Bynum. All three health of cials who attended Wednesday’s video conference urged councilors to approve the ordinance. Dr. George Monks, president of the Oklahoma State Medical Association, said an important responsibility of elected of cials is to keep the public safe. “Wearing a face mask may not be as dramatic and immediate as saving a toddler’s life because they walked out into the street where there is oncoming traf c, (but) you have the potential of saving lives when you wear a face mask,” Monk said. “It’s that important.” Dr. Dale Bratzler, chief COVID of cer at the University of Oklahoma, stressed that wearing a simple cloth mask can help prevent the spread of the deadly disease. Given that there is no vaccine to prevent the virus, Bratzler said, “the best intervention that we have to reduce the spread of this disease is to wear a mask.” https://tulsaworld.com/eedition/page-a1/page_24cf9507-e475-5847-9b3e-efd9a40319ba.html 2/4
7/16/2020 Page A1 | Tulsa World E-edition | tulsaworld.com
“It’s a respiratory virus, which means the most common mode of transmission is that the droplets coming out of my mouth
when I speak are in the air and somebody else can potentially inhale them, particularly if you are not physically distancing
from those people,” Bratzler said.
Bynum told councilors that although his proposal would be unprecedented in Tulsa, it was in line with what other
municipalities across the country have implemented or are considering.
“This is not unprecedented in cities across America,” he said. “Out of the 50 largest cities by population, 46 of them already
have orders like this in place, either put in place by their local governments or by their state government.”
Bynum said the No. 1 misconception that he’s heard about the ordinance is that it is about protecting the wearer.
“If that were the case, then I could totally understand the whole, ‘It’s my choice to take a risk with my health’ argument,”
Bynum said. “I would support that. This is about protecting other people from the person wearing the mask. And the only
way it works effectively is if you have the community engaging in that.”
Featured video
Gov. Kevin Stitt announces he has COVID-19 in news conference July 15
Gov. Kevin Stitt announces he has COVID-19 in news conference July 15
Related video
State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister urges mask-wearing for the sake of…
https://tulsaworld.com/eedition/page-a1/page_24cf9507-e475-5847-9b3e-efd9a40319ba.html 3/47/16/2020 Page A1 | Tulsa World E-edition | tulsaworld.com
Important de nitions
Face covering: A covering that fully covers a person's nose and mouth. The term includes but is not limited to cloth face
masks, towels, scarves and bandanas as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the
Oklahoma State Department of Health, an N95, KN95, or other mask that would be appropriate for a health care setting,
or a surgical mask.
Public service area: Areas of a place of public accommodation or an educational institution where employees interact
with the public in the normal course of business.
Public setting: Any public place where people congregate that is not a place of public accommodation, including o ces,
workplaces, houses of worship and ancillary facilities, child care facilities, hospitals and health facilities, gymnasiums and
physical tness facilities, adult and youth sports facilities, communal outdoor spaces such as sidewalks, trails and parks,
and food trucks and other outdoor retail entities.
Place of public accommodation: All places o ering items, goods or services for purchase or rent, including retail
businesses, personal services and spas, entertainment venues, food service facilities, restaurants and bars, hotels, motels
and travel related services, professional o ces and services, banks and nancial services, repair facilities, motor vehicle
dealerships.
Public service area: Areas in a place of public accommodation or an educational institution where employees interact
with the public in the normal course of business.
https://tulsaworld.com/eedition/page-a1/page_24cf9507-e475-5847-9b3e-efd9a40319ba.html 4/47/16/2020 Experts: AC systems can make virus spread worse - The Oklahoman, 7/16/2020
Experts: AC systems can make virus spread
worse
Adrianna Rodriguez
USA TODAY
Though some public health experts expected coronavirus
transmission to wane in the summer as temperatures rise
and the air becomes more humid, cases have actually
skyrocketed in some of the hottest and stickiest parts of
the country.
Engineers and ventilation experts said this may be in part
because residents escape the heat by retreating indoors
where heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC)
systems could exacerbate airborne transmission with
unplanned air currents.
“The main way (air conditioning) can contribute to
spreading coronavirus is by creating strong air currents
that can move the droplets … and contribute to increase
risk,” said William Bahnfleth, chair of the American
Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning
Engineers’ Epidemic Task Force (ASHRAE) and professor
at Penn State University.
Most air conditioning filters won’t capture virus.
STURTI/GETTY IMAGES Even in bars and restaurants where social distancing is
observed, air ventilation can carry respiratory droplets or
aerosols that contain virus, said Len Horovitz, pulmonary
specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published initial findings of an outbreak linked to the
airflow in a Guangzhou, China, restaurant. Over the course of 12 days, nine people who dined at the
restaurant Jan. 24 fell ill as a result of another patron with a COVID-19 infection, the authors determined.
Within five days, three people sitting at the infected patron’s table were infected along with another below
the air conditioner. Of the 91 people in the restaurant during that hour, only those at tables in the way of
the air conditioner’s airflow contracted the virus.
The World Health Organization only recently recognized that aerosolized droplets can lead to infection
after more than 200 medical experts wrote an open letter urging the agency to react to mounting evidence
and go a step further with its recommendations.
“Ventilation is the key control point for an airborne virus,” said Dr. Julian Tang, one of the authors of the
paper. “Based on multiple studies done by the authors, we believe that optimized ventilation is the way to
Coronavirus / Spread indoors
digital.newsok.com/Olive/ODN/Oklahoman/PrintArticle.aspx?doc=DOK%2F2020%2F07%2F16&entity=ar00702&ts=20200716090617&uq=201910110… 1/27/16/2020 Experts: AC systems can make virus spread worse - The Oklahoman, 7/16/2020 move forward, removing the virus from the air before people inhale it. We think that’s one of the main ways it’s transmitted.” The best ventilation will always be outside. In hot Southern states where people want to stay indoors and enjoy the air conditioning, ventilation is dependent on HVAC systems. Though Bahnfleth said it’s possible to increase outside air through these systems, experts are not sure how much air is enough to diffuse virus particles as the dose of infection is unclear. “Even if you try to increase the ventilation rate, HVAC systems have not been designed to prevent transmission of these infectious airborne diseases,” said Dilip Goswami, president, co-founder and CTO of Molekule, an indoor air purification company. After ventilation, the next line of defense in an HVAC system is filtration. Most commercial and residential HVAC systems have a MERV 6 or 8 filter, which takes care of the basic pollen, dust, dust mites, mold and bacteria. It’s unable to capture small particles that contain virus, which can be about 1 micron. More air-quality-conscious establishments boast a MERV 13 filter that can partially capture virus carriers, but some HVAC systems aren’t equipped to handle it. Though ventilation from the outside is able to diffuse virus particles in the air, filters can capture the virus only when it comes into the system. “Most air conditioning systems won’t filter (virus) out, and if it did filter it out, it probably went right by and right into your face first,” said Wendell Porter, senior lecturer at the University of Florida. Goswami said it’s possible to manipulate air currents to make it safer for people indoors, but most establishments don’t think that far ahead. ASHRAE’s task force was established to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and provide guidance to ensure buildings are prepared for epidemics. Its recommendations include ventilation control, filtration and maintenance. ASHRAE is a professional society, not a formal legal body. It’s up to states, localities and building codes to adopt recommendations to ensure a safe return to work, school and leisure. Goswami said it’s important for people to take these recommendations seriously, especially in bars and restaurants where patrons need to remove their masks to eat and drink. Many establishments enforce social distancing and mask wearing, but few take a second look at their HVAC systems to see whether they go above the minimum standards. “We knew something like this could have happened and that airborne transmission is a major problem to contain,” he said. “We need to be aware of it and make sure we do everything possible instead of the minimum of what’s possible.” Health and patient safety coverage at USA TODAY is made possible in part by a grant from the Masimo Foundation for Ethics, Innovation and Competition in Healthcare. The Masimo Foundation does not provide editorial input. “Most air conditioning systems won’t filter (virus) out ...” Wendell Porter, senior lecturer at the University of Florida digital.newsok.com/Olive/ODN/Oklahoman/PrintArticle.aspx?doc=DOK%2F2020%2F07%2F16&entity=ar00702&ts=20200716090617&uq=201910110… 2/2
7/16/2020 Masks may fend off severe illness - The Oklahoman, 7/16/2020
Masks may fend off severe illness
They allow less of the virus into your system
Elizabeth Weise
USA TODAY
Guests wearing protective masks wait to pick up their tickets to a Disney park. GREGG NEWTON/AFP VIA GETTY
IMAGES
A new report from a hair salon in Springfield, Missouri, shows wearing a face mask isn’t just altruistic – it
also helps keep the person wearing it from getting COVID-19.
And some infectious disease experts increasingly think wearing a mask could mean that even if a person is
infected, they are more likely to get a milder or even asymptomatic form of the disease.
The Missouri hair salon case was published in this week’s Morbidity and Mortality Report from the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s an example of the power of face masks to stop the spread of SARS-
CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
On May 12, a hair stylist at a Springfield Great Clips salon developed respiratory symptoms, but kept
working for eight days until a COVID-19 test came back positive.
Another stylist started getting sick three days later and worked for another seven days before testing positive
and staying home. Both colleagues wore masks only when customers were present.
Six close contacts of the first stylist ended up coming down with COVID-19. But in the salon, where 98% of
clients wore masks, things played out differently. Of the 67 clients exposed to one or both of the stylists and
tested for COVID-19, not one tested positive.
Coronavirus / Mask Benefits
digital.newsok.com/Olive/ODN/Oklahoman/PrintArticle.aspx?doc=DOK%2F2020%2F07%2F16&entity=ar03000&ts=20200716090617&uq=201910110… 1/37/16/2020 Masks may fend off severe illness - The Oklahoman, 7/16/2020 While cloth face coverings aren’t 100% effective, “wearing them means you’re exposed to less virus. Less is coming in from other people and you’re inhaling less. It’s a win-win,” said Dr. John Brooks, a medical epidemiologist and the CDC’s chief medical officer for the agency’s COVID-19 response. If the American public were to embrace masking now, Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the pandemic could be brought to heel in less than two months. “If we could get everybody to wear a mask right now, I really do think over the next 4-6-8 weeks, I really think we can bring this under control,” he said in an interview Tuesday with the editor in chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Masks may keep you from becoming severely sick And it might do more than quell the outbreak. A hypothesis among some infectious disease experts is that those infected while wearing masks breathe in a lower dose of the virus, and as a result often have less severe illness. A forthcoming article in the Journal of General Internal Medicine lays out the theory. It makes a lot of sense, said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, an expert in health policy at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “Wearing a mask may protect the mask wearer more than we realize,” he said. “This paper provides a new explanation for lower rates of death in areas where mask wearing is common, as well as an even stronger rationale for all of us to wear masks when around others.” The rationale is based on the medical concept of “viral inoculum,” or how much virus someone is exposed to. The evidence about viral, bacterial or fungal exposure affecting how sick someone gets goes back to the 1930s. “We know this for gastrointestinal viruses, sexually transmitted diseases and respiratory infections. The bigger the load the more you get in your system, the more severe the disease,” said Dr. Monica Gandhi, a professor of medicine and infectious disease expert at the University of California, San Francisco and co- author on the paper. Wearing a cloth face covering is estimated to screen out between 65% and 85% of viral particles, said Dr. Chris Beyrer, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and another author. Depending on how robust the person’s immune system is, a smaller exposure seems to correlate with milder cases of COVID-19. It’s probably because with a smaller amount of virus to deal with, the body’s immune system has a better chance of mounting a defense, the paper’s authors suggest. It’s seen in many other diseases, said Otto Yang, a professor of medicine and chief of infectious diseases at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “When somebody’s infected with a virus, there’s immediately a race between the virus replicating itself and the immune system. The bigger the inoculum a person gets, the bigger head start the virus has,” he said. It also appears people who wear masks but contract the disease are much more likely to be asymptomatic, meaning they have COVID-19 but no symptoms. digital.newsok.com/Olive/ODN/Oklahoman/PrintArticle.aspx?doc=DOK%2F2020%2F07%2F16&entity=ar03000&ts=20200716090617&uq=201910110… 2/3
7/16/2020 Masks may fend off severe illness - The Oklahoman, 7/16/2020 The idea remains a hypothesis because the scientists don’t have specific data, as it’s impossible to do studies in humans. “We can’t spray SARS-CoV-2 virus in people’s faces at lower and higher doses and see who gets sicker,” Gandhi said. But there is animal data. A study in hamsters found that if masks were used to filter the air into their cages, the hamsters were less likely to become infected with COVID-19, and if they did get infected, they had milder disease. There’s also ecological evidence from the pandemic that seems to bear this out. Take the case of two cruise ships that both had COVID-19 onboard. “Cruise ships in some ways are like a natural experiment,” Beyrer said. “Things were done differently on different ships and the outcomes were different. The first was the Diamond Princess, where 18% of those who got infected with COVID-19 were asymptomatic. Very few passengers wore masks. A later infection hit another cruise ship, the Shackleton. When the first case appeared, all passengers were issued surgical masks and all staff wore N95 masks. While 58% of passengers and crew ended up becoming infected with COVID-19, a full 81% of them were asymptomatic. Another example comes from Oregon, where everyone in a fish processing plant was issued masks each day at work. While 33% of workers tested ended up being positive for COVID-19, 95% of them were asymptomatic. In countries where a high percentage of the population wears masks, the number of cases may rise, but the number of deaths falls. Some models show that if 80% of people wear masks, death rates from COVID-19 stay very low. In the United States, San Francisco has a very high level of mask wearing, and while cases have been going up, the death rate has remained flat. In fact, there have been no new deaths since June 27. The city also is showing a high level of asymptomatic cases. A high level of asymptomatic cases means that fewer people are actually getting sick from COVID-19, and those that are are less likely to spread the disease. Face masks could be key to getting back to as normal as possible before a vaccine is available. It will still require social distancing and handwashing, but masking could allow things to open up, said the CDC’s Brooks. “What we’re saying is, if everybody will adopt cloth face coverings, we can begin socializing again without shutting down the economy,” he said. “Wearing them means you’re exposed to less virus. Less is coming in from other people and you’re inhaling less. It’s a win-win.” Dr. John Brooks, a medical epidemiologist and the CDC’s chief medical officer for the agency’s COVID-19 response digital.newsok.com/Olive/ODN/Oklahoman/PrintArticle.aspx?doc=DOK%2F2020%2F07%2F16&entity=ar03000&ts=20200716090617&uq=201910110… 3/3
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