Published 06:43 IST, June 21st 2020
Six Trump campaign staffers working on Tulsa rally test positive for COVID-19
At least six workers working on US Prez Donald Trump's rally in Tulsa have tested positive for coronavirus; quarantine procedures were immediately implemented.
Six staffers working on US President Donald Trump's election campaign in Tulsa, Oklahoma have tested positive for novel coronavirus, the president's campaign reportedly said on June 20. Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh reportedly said in a statement that keeping in mind the safety protocols, the campaign staff were tested for COVID-19 before the start of the event. Out of the several tests performed, six members of the advanced team tested positive for the virus. Quarantine procedures were immediately implemented for the six, he added.
Murtaugh reportedly said that no coronavirus positive staffer or anyone who came in direct contact will attend the event. The United States Supreme Court gave permission to hold the rally after it was legally challenged to stop over the fear of coronavirus spread that could be triggered by the mass gathering. Netizens are calling the Tulsa rally 'coronapalooza' and the attendees are being criticised who have planned to attend the event amid the coronavirus pandemic fearing it might increase new wave of infections.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump and Mike Pence have reportedly scrapped plans to address the rally following reports of low attendance. Trump took to Twitter and said, "This will be the 1st time that POTUS speaks to BOTH crowds in person - inside & outside" (sic).
Trump's campaign
According to Trump's re-election campaign website, those attending the rally have been asked to sign a waiver that reads they won't be able to sue if they contract COVID-19 at the rally. Trump's rally which was scheduled on June 20 at 7 p.m. Eastern Time inside BOK Center is garnering all the bad attention for two reasons. One, obvious is that people are not considering it safe to hold a mass gathering of about 19,000 people at a time when the country is the most affected by the coronavirus pandemic in the entire world. Second, the rally is being held in Tusla, Oklahoma, where nearly 90 years ago in 1929, white supremacists killed over 300 African-Americans in what is known as one of the worst racial killings in the history of the United States.
According to reports, health experts believe that the rally could trigger another wave of coronavirus outbreak in Oklahoma state, which is already seeing an increase in the infection rate. According to figures by Johns Hopkins University, the United States has recorded over 2.2 million coronavirus cases so far, of which 1,19,112 people have lost their lives. New York remains the worst-hit region in the country with 31,015 deaths, followed by New Jersey with 12,902 deaths.
Image: AP
Updated 06:43 IST, June 21st 2020