Tulsa Experiences A Surge In COVID-19 Cases After Donald Trump's June Rally
The city is Tulsa, where Donald Trump hosted his rally the last month, is experiencing a spike in COVID-19 cases. This surge has been recorded just over two weeks after the president held a campaign rally at the BOK Center, which is an indoor arena.
On July 8, Executive Director of the Tulsa Health Department Dr. Bruce Dart said in a press conference that high numbers were recorded that week, with about 500 new cases in just a couple of days and trends show that those numbers are likely to increase.
A 20 percent decline has been recorded in new COVID-19 cases in the week of June 28 through July 4. On July 8, the Tulsa Health Department found 266 new cases, bringing the total number in America to 4,571. Johns Hopkins University's tally of cases in the country show 17,894 cases in Oklahoma, and 452 deaths.
When asked if the hike in coronavirus cases in Tulsa can be attributed to the president's recently-concluded campaign rally in the city, Dart noted that there were several large events about two weeks ago. "I guess we just connect the dots," he said.
Marketing and Communications Director at Tulsa Health Department Leanne Stephens released a statement to CNN saying, the department's epidemiologists and contact tracers are overwhelmed with the task of tracking Tulsa County residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 due to extremely high numbers in recent days.
Stephens noted that a new single-day case high was recorded a day earlier, and the moving trends have been featured on the Tulsa Health Department website. The coronavirus incubation period, which alludes to the time between people contracting the disease to when they start showing the symptoms is about fourteen days.
The symptoms are likely to appear within four or five days after exposure to the virus, Harvard Medical School says. In an interview with CNN, Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh noted that during the protests, health precautions were ignored as thousands of people focused on looting, rioting, and taking to the streets, but media refused to admit the incident caused a rise in coronavirus cases.
Murtaugh went on to explain that Trump's rally, which took place 18 days ago, allowed people to attend only after getting their temperature checked, given a mask, and urged to use hand sanitizers that were made available in the arena. Murtaugh accused the media of only being concerned about large gatherings when it comes to Trump rallies.