At a time when homeless students and those experiencing extreme poverty already face a wide academic gap compared to their peers, the loss of teacher-led instruction could create an even larger gap.
“The numbers are so stunning, there’s nothing to compare it with historically. I just wouldn’t feel safe to characterize it as this is high as it’s going to go,” said Lynn Gray, economic research and analysis director for OESC.
Up until the past week, the health department used a COVID-19 test form with an optional inquiry for race and ethnicity. Less than 25 percent of people answered.
In early March, just days after Oklahoma had recorded its first case of COVID-19, the Oklahoma State Department of Health agreed to pay a local public relations specialist $150 an hour to help manage the department’s response to the upcoming crisis.
Both Shrum and Pollard are key members of the governor’s coronavirus response team and have been central figures in crafting the state’s testing strategy, which has relied more on private companies than the federal government.
A federal judge on Monday partially blocked Oklahoma’s ban on most abortions during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the state had acted in an “unreasonable” and “oppressive” way by restricting abortion access.
There have been at least 51 deaths in Oklahoma so far connected to the novel coronavirus, but Sauz’s death is an outlier — he was 22 years old, not in an age group considered most susceptible to the fatal effects of the virus.
The lack of information changed over the weekend when private labs reported more than 6,000 negative test results going as far back as early February, according to the state health department.
