Ponca student tests positive for tuberculosis

by Jordan Green

A Ponca City Public Schools student has reportedly tested positive for tuberculosis, school officials said Monday. In a news release, school officials said they are cooperating with state and local health officials to test students and others who have had contact with the affected student. Health officials are investigating the case.

“Letters were sent and phone calls were made on April 5, 2021 to school staff and to parents of students who may have had significant exposure and who are recommended to be tested for possible TB infection,” officials said. “This includes persons who had frequent and/or prolonged indoor contact with the student in instances such as being in specific classrooms or while on trips to sporting events, etc.”

Tuberculosis can be spread through the air, and it typically affects a person’s lungs. People who have the disease may feel sick or weak. They may also cough up blood or experience fever, weight loss, coughing, chest and 3,699 have recovered.

Blackwell has 670 cases, with 626 recoveries and 19 deaths. Newkirk has 433 cases, with 417 recoveries and three deaths. Tonkawa has 367 cases, with 347 recoveries and 15 deaths. Kaw City has 63 cases, with 60 recoveries and three deaths. That leaves the town with no active cases. Braman has 24 cases, with 21 recoveries and one death.

The state health department does not provide data on coronavirus cases in some of the state’s smallest towns, including Nardin in Kay County. In recent weeks, the state health department has changed the way it counts coronavirus cases and deaths. The department now includes provisional data from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control on its website.

Those numbers are higher than the state’s investigated total number of cases. The department’s investigated numbers show that the state has 437,853 cases of the virus. Of those cases, 10,540 are active. Statewide, 422,360 people have recovered from the virus, and 4,953 people have died from it.

The CDC’s provisional numbers show that the state has 440,023 cases of the virus and 7,961 deaths. For more information on vaccinations, visit https:// oklahoma.gov/covid19/ vaccine-information/vaccine-faqs.html.