Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump camp outside the BOK Center, the venue for his upcoming rally, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, US.
REUTERS/Lawrence Bryant

A few days prior to the planned campaign rally for US President Donald Trump in Tulsa, Oklahoma, reports have come out about a surge in COVID-19 contagions, and this led to petitions to stop what will apparently be the biggest indoor social assembly in the state in three months. However, the petitions were denied.

News reports said a judge in Tulsa denied an emergency attempt to keep Trump's approaching campaign rally from taking place as scheduled after petitioners claimed it would be a COVID-19 "super-spreader" that would put the public in danger.

The complaint which two residents of Oklahoma who said they have impaired immune system, assert that the campaign rally postures a threat as the anticipated large crowd would not follow social distancing measures.

More so, the said residents claimed, the huge crowd wouldn't be necessitated to put on face masks. As a result, news reports indicated, "They filed an emergency motion" that sought a "temporary restraining order" so the said rally would not push through as scheduled and planned.

More than 1 Million Tickets for the Weekend Rally

The Tulsa campaign rally, said President Trump's campaign manager, Brad Parscale, is the first social gathering since the global pandemic took place. He added, they "have now passed one million tickets" for the event slated for Saturday in this city "at the BOK Center."

And, while over a million have already signed up for the big weekend event, there is a growing concern from the public health experts about possible contagions during the event since, as earlier mentioned, many wouldn't be wearing face masks.

Meanwhile, during an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, repeated what he had asserted in the past that COVID-19 is fading away, with or without the arrival and availability of vaccine or any new effective treatment.

The president's campaign advisers, the news outlet said, perceive the rally as an opportunity to revive "his political base" following a series of state and national polls that showed Joe Biden, Trump's "trailing Democratic opponent."

Petition not Politically Motivated

In a one-page order, Judge Rebecca Brett Nightingale said, "It does not appear by the Petition" that complainants are allowed to the help they were demanding.

Shannon Martin and Stephen Bruner, the plaintiffs, together with the John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation and the Greenwood Centre, filed a complaint against ASM Global. This company operates Bank of Oklahoma Center, the venue for the event, with the hope that the court would force them to close it for health purposes.

The complaint indicated that all credible, qualified health experts that include the Center for Disease Control and Prevention agree that this type of indoor assembly creates the biggest probable threat of community-wide infection.

Meanwhile, according to Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, during Wednesday's briefing, the state officials were doing their best to guarantee that the rally would be "safe as possible."

And, since it looks like the event is pushing through despite the petition and growing concerns, the health officials here recommended any individual joining the rally to undergo the test for COVID-19 before going to the event.

The officials also recommend for event's participants to go through self-isolation after the rally and get another COVID-19 test.

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