Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

GET VIRUS TEST, Oklahoma urges rally attendees.

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OKLAHOMA CITY — A day after President Donald Trump held a campaign rally at an indoor arena in Tulsa, the Oklahoma State Department of Health urged anyone who has recently attended a large-scale event to be tested for the coronaviru­s.

The department did not specify any event in its news release sent late Sunday.

Nearly 6,200 people attended Trump’s rally at Tulsa’s

BOK Center on Saturday night. The campaign did not require attendees to wear masks to guard against the spread of the coronaviru­s. And just hours before the rally began, the campaign announced that six staffers had tested positive.

The state health department recommends that people take a test before and after attending such events and encourages participan­ts to wear masks and practice social distancing. The Trump campaign handed out masks to attendees as they arrived, but the majority did not wear one, including the president.

“Personal responsibi­lity remains key in protecting yourself and our local communitie­s from COVID-19. We continue to encourage Oklahomans to consider wearing a mask, to routinely wash hands, and to use physical distancing measures,” interim state Health Commission­er Dr. Lance Frye said in the news release.

“As a society, we face a delicate balance of creating a new normal that takes into account public health, mental health, and economic risks. It will take all of us working together, as one State, to overcome the many challenges COVID-19 presents until there is a widely available vaccine,” said Frye, who warned of a surge in coronaviru­s cases after the state began reopening in late April.

There were at least 10,733 confirmed cases of the virus in the state and 369 deaths due to covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, the health department reported Monday, an increase of 218 cases and one death from Sunday.

The actual number of people who have contracted the virus is probably higher because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected and not feel sick.

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