Tulsa Health Dept. Considers Coronavirus (COVID-19) To Be Spreading In Community

Tuesday, March 17th 2020, 5:29 am

By: Shannon Rousseau

Oklahoma now has 10 coronavirus cases state-wide, and the Tulsa Health department is urging everyone to practice social distancing.

They said there are still more than 100 tests pending statewide. All of those tests are potentially positive cases, because they were for people either exposed to the virus, or already showing symptoms.

Dr. Bruce Dart with Tulsa County Health Department said "community spread has been identified in Oklahoma over the weekend. And that was identified in Cleveland County. It is likely, in all honesty, we will be seeing community spread very soon in Tulsa County."

Currently, the order in effect for Tulsa is all city events with more than 50 people are banned.

With schools out, casinos closed, and businesses closing their doors temporarily, health leaders said the best way to protect yourself is with social distancing.

There is already one confirmed positive case in Oklahoma that the state said is a result of community spread, which means the patient has not traveled and they do not know how they got sick.

Mayor G.T. Bynum said these are unprecedented times and we all need to do our part.

"Each of us has the ability to greatly reduce our risk of contracting this by limiting the amount of exposure that we have to other people" said Mayor Bynum. "The best way we can slow the rate of contagion is by limiting large groups of people getting together and causing that contagion to move quickly. And if we slow it then I am confident our healthcare system can handle it."

The Tulsa Health Department will have an update at noon with the latest information on COVID-19.