Health

The City of Lawton has announced that it will be temporarily closing all facilities to the general public until further notice due to COVID-19. By doing so they hope to help slow or stop the spread of Coronavirus. All of S.W. Oklahoma, Comanche County included, has seen a significant increase in positive cases and hospitalizations.

Funny how that works.

You can't pin blame on anyone.

Yesterday evening (11-17-20) ABC News was in Lawton, Fort Sill reporting live from local hospitals about the recent surge in positive COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. November has seen the biggest spike since the beginning of the pandemic and so far there are over 2 million new cases of the virus just this month and we still have 2 more weeks to go. The dreaded second wave has started and it's overwhelming our hospitals.

While most higher education outlets are remaining in person, SWOSU is going full virtual this month.

Earlier today (11-13-20) there was a ground breaking ceremony in downtown Lawton for what will be the new permanent location for the Lawton farmers market. Construction will hopefully get underway this year and open sometime 2021.

This guy who tested positive for COVID-19 and has symptoms including the loss of taste and smell decides to test his taste buds. He tries all kinds of weird foods and drinks to see if he can smell or taste anything.

The dreaded second wave of COVID-19 is here and we're seeing a sharp increase in not only positive cases being reported in Lawton, Fort Sill and Comanche County but hospitalizations as well. Over the past couple of weeks Comanche County Memorial Hospital has seen a significant rise in Coronavirus hospitalizations.

Unfortunately due to the recent increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in S.W. Oklahoma Southwestern Medial Center has reinstated their "No Visitors" policy starting today (11-05-20). Only patients receiving medical care will be permitted into the hospital at this time. This includes the main hospital and all the clinics as well.

CCMH (Comanche County Memorial Hospital) has reinstated their "No Visitor" policy due to the recent increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. The dreaded second wave of Coronavirus looks to be here as we're seeing more and more cases in S.W. Oklahoma and around the country.

Yesterday afternoon (10-13-20) the Lawton City Council voted to keep the mandatory mask ordinance in effect until mid January of 2021. That will be the earliest or next time the members will review the ordinance to amend or remove it.

Lawton City Hall The Lawton City Council will be meeting today in regular session at 2:00pm CST to discuss and vote on possibly ending the mandatory mask ordinance. All citizens are encouraged to voice their opinions, as well as local and area businesses. The meeting will be held in the auditorium at Lawton City Hall in downtown located at: 212 S.W. 9th street, on the corner of 9th and C Ave.