By Matt Trotter
Public Radio Tulsa
It’s been a month and a day now since Tulsa officials announced Oklahoma’s first case of COVID-19.
Since then, 272 more people have been diagnosed with the illness and 14 have died, many infected through community spread of the novel coronavirus.
“I’m starting to hate this virus. I hope you do as well. It knows no boundaries — not geographic locations, not race, not gender. It’s spreading in north Tulsa, south Tulsa, east Tulsa, west Tulsa, midtown and all of our surrounding communities,” said Tulsa Health Department Executive Director Dr. Bruce Dart.
While Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum is not requiring it, Dart is urging everyone to wear cloth face coverings if they must go out in public to help limit the spread of the virus by people who may not know they’re infected. Dart said do not use medical masks, and save any gloves you have in case you must care for a sick person at home.
Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum said by now, many area residents know someone affected by COVID-19, and he had a message for those fighting it and their caregivers.
“You have a community here that is rallying behind you in a way that it has never rallied behind anything ever before, and I hope that you can feel that as you’re going through this,” Bynum said.
