President Trump’s June 21st rally, and the related counterprotest outside, “likely contributed” to the recent spike in coronavirus cases seen in the city, Tulsa City-County Health Department Director Dr. Bruce Dart said Wednesday.
“In the past few days, we’ve seen almost 500 new cases, and we had several large events just over two weeks ago, so I guess we just connect the dots,” Dart said according to MPRNews.org.
Tulsa set daily records Monday (261) and Tuesday (206) for coronavirus cases, stretching the city’s critical care capacity. Statewide, Oklahoma reported a record high 858 cases on Tuesday, with another 673 cases reported today.
Although the Trump campaign touted more than 1 million ticket requests, the Tulsa rally attracted an estimated 6,200 attendees to the BOK arena, which holds 19,000 people. People were not required to wear masks or social distance during the event, and Trump campaign staff were seen removing social distancing warnings from seats prior to the rally.