LAWTON – Almost 90% of Lawton Public Schools students who have received positive COVID-19 test results since August 12 have recovered, according to district figures released Tuesday.
Numbers show 280 of the 315 students have recovered from the illness with the remaining 35 still in isolation. In addition, 55 of the 60 Lawton teachers who tested positive for the virus have recovered as of Sept. 21. Five are still in isolation.
“We continue to monitor our numbers and work with health officials,” LPS Superintendent Kevin Himes stated in an email. “We encourage those that are able to get vaccinated to do so in hopes of eradicating the virus.”
District officials took action to mitigate the COVID-19 crisis Sept. 13 when they initiated a mask mandate for students and teachers.
“The safety of our school family is our greatest priority and the rise in cases of COVID-19 in our community made this difficult decision necessary,” Himes wrote in a letter to parents.
Masks will be required in all indoor locations of the schools and on LPS school buses. Masks will not be required while eating or drinking.
Central Middle School leads the district with six active COVID-19 cases followed by Eisenhower Middle School with five. MacArthur Middle School, Crosby Park Elementary, Freedom Elementary and Pioneer Park Elementary each have three active cases.
In a Tuesday email, Hime said, “One of the reasons we implemented the mask mandate was to effectively decrease the number of active cases we were seeing in our buildings and across our community. Hopefully, we look up in a month or two and the numbers will be minimal like it was last school year. At that time, we can re-evaluate the mandate.”
An Oklahoma County judge ruled earlier in September that school districts could implement mask mandates. The ruling blocks a state law that forbids mask mandates. District Judge Natalie Mai said she is blocking the law because it applies only to public, not private, schools. She also ruled schools that adopt a mask mandate must provide an option for parents or students to opt out of the requirement.
Mai’s ruling drew praise from Gov. Kevin Stitt, who signed the law and opposes mask mandates without exemptions.
However, some school districts are opting to abide by the state law. Kent Lemons, superintendent for Sterling Schools, said the district has started this school term under the same rules approved by the board of education.
“We’re recommending masks, but there is no mandate,” he said, adding that he’s seen “maybe five or six” students wear them.
One Sterling student is currently in isolation after testing positive and two others have been quarantined because of “close contact” with someone outside the school environment, Lemons said.
“We haven’t had any outbreaks that would give us big numbers,” he said. “It’s been smooth so far. We had hoped it would be that way. It’s answered prayers is what it is.”
Meanwhile, the Elgin Public Schools website showed the district with 33 active student cases and four active teacher cases. Elgin Middle School reported 15 COVID-19 cases among its students and Elgin High School reported nine cases. The remaining nine cases were spread throughout the upper and lower elementary schools.
Healthcare figures
Patient numbers at Comanche County Memorial Hospital aren’t getting much better than previous weeks, according to daily reports from CCMH.
All hospital beds remain full, with 18 patients waiting for a bed, according to the Sept. 21 report. The report also shows 39 of the 47 COVID-19 patients are unvaccinated. In addition, 12 of the 13 COVID-19 ICU patients are unvaccinated.
The Sept. 21 report also shows 26 COVID-19 patients need mechanical breathing assistance.
Figures from Southwestern Medical Center were not available.
Comanche County has 635 active COVID-19 cases as of Sept. 21, according to figures provided by the Oklahoma State Department of Health. The county has experienced 18,825 COVID-19 cases and 230 deaths since the virus hit in 2020. More than 17,900 people have recovered from the illness, health department figures show.
In addition, 59% of Comanche County residents have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine while 47.3% are fully vaccinated, according to www.covidactnow.org.