OSU To End Weekly 'Project Echo' COVID-19 Briefings

Oklahoma State University is ending a popular weekly COVID-19 briefing now that cases are down to numbers seen early in the pandemic.

The “Project Echo” briefings ended Wednesday, after 103 sessions that started urgently last March 20.

“We got it up and running in two days,” said Dr. Tara Jackson, a Public Health Physician who leads OSU’s Project Echo, an online platform started to deliver updated health information to rural physicians. During the pandemic, it became a way to rapidly share the evolving information on COVID-19.

“There was so much information out there and so much of it was false. We had a whole team that vetted resources and data and looked through it, making sure it was reliable,” said Dr. Jackson.

The audience sometimes grew to 400 people on the video call, and all were able to ask questions, or just listen.

At the last briefing, Dr. Jennifer Clark noted the downturn in cases might have hit bottom two weeks ago – and be bouncing back.

“In Oklahoma we jumped again from last week to this, so we've officially started an increase,” said Clark. About 38% of Oklahomans are fully vaccinated.

The program is part of the OSU Health Sciences Center, and the COVID-19 briefing was supported by donors. OSU Project Echo has 21 topics covered in what are usually weekly sessions.