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Quotes of the Day
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“Right now, we have districts competing with other districts for access to these supplies, and someone has to lose out. That’s not acceptable.”
-State Rep. Melissa Provenzano, D-Tulsa, a former educator, commenting on the difficulty in procuring cleaning supplies. [CNHI via Enid News & Eagle]
“We need every Oklahoman to fill (their Census form) out, because that’s roads and bridges and health care and education. Those are the dollars that we spend and invest back in Oklahoma.”
-Gov. Kevin Stitt, speaking about the need for an accurate Census count [Tulsa World]
“All the concepts of responding to an infectious disease threat are foundational. You use the same tenets or principles and just tailor them to the particular threat. It’s disheartening to see. It’s like nobody knew that we had been practicing and developing and fine-tuning that public health playbook in Oklahoma for years and years. Then everybody from the governor on down to (former State Health Commissioner) Gary Cox, they just sort of kept it on the shelf and didn’t dust it off.”
-Former State Epidemiologist Dr. Kristy Bradley, who served as the state epidemiologist for 11 years. [Oklahoma Watch]
“This unpublished report recommends far stronger public health measures than the White House has called for in public or than the state currently requires — including mandating face masks, closing bars and gyms, and strictly limiting gatherings.”
-Rep. James Clyburn, D-South Carolina, chairman of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, in a July 26 letter to Gov. Stitt about the state’s virus response. He referenced a report prepared for the White House Coronavirus Task Force. [The Oklahoman]
“I’ve been trying to push for him to get out as fast as possible. He is terrified. He doesn’t feel like they are doing enough to keep him safe. He’s told me, ‘I don’t want to die in prison.’”
-The fiance of a man who is incarcerated at Jackie Brannon Correctional Center and set to be released in the coming weeks [The Oklahoman]
“We also know that there are many, many more people who are not getting (health) coverage and do not have options and are coasting on hope, and hope is a terrible public health strategy.”
-Carly Putnam, Policy Director for OK Policy, talking about the need for Medicaid coverage during the pandemic [The Oklahoman]
“We are at the end of the runway.”
-George Monks, President of the Oklahoma State Medical Association, in a Thursday morning tweet describing a daylong search to locate “the one and only” available hospital bed in Tulsa for a COVID-19 patient
“I hope that we see some very deliberate, public planning for our families to be able to do this. I don’t want someone to throw a laptop and a hotspot at me and say, ‘Have at it.’”
-Oklahoma City Public School board member Carrie Coppernoll-Jacobs speaking about the district’s plan to delay its start date and begin school year online [The Oklahoman]
Percentage of Oklahoma children — about 324,000 — who live in single-parent families.
“I hate diverting funds from my local public school but what are my other options besides sacrificing my family’s health?”
-Leslie Bonebreak, a Moore parent to two elementary-age children, about the choice to enroll her children in Epic Virtual Charter school due to virus concerns [The Frontier]
