An aerial shot of Oklahoma City. Photo Credit: Justin Prine
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt has officially unveiled plans to lift mask requirements and allow full-size live-entertainment events to resume in The Sooner State.
Oklahoma’s 28th governor announced the imminent rollback of COVID-19 restrictions during a 25-minute-long press conference, dubbed “Get Our Summer Back.” Predictably, given the conference’s title, Governor Stitt struck an optimistic tone when discussing the timetable associated with moving past the crisis and resuming pre-pandemic activities at scale.
“One year later, we’re coming to an end of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said. “The worst is behind us, and the light at the end of the tunnel is brighter than ever before. Oklahoma, we are on track to get our summer back.”
And in elaborating upon the source of his positive outlook, the governor pointed to the progress that Oklahoman medical professionals have made in administering COVID-19 vaccines. (Inversely, German music-festival promoters earlier this week cited the comparatively slow distribution of vaccines as one of the main reasons behind their 2021 event cancellations.)
“Over 1,000,000 vaccines have been administered,” Stitt said of his approximately 4,000,000-resident state, “and over 400,000 Oklahomans are fully vaccinated. This week we move into phase three of our vaccine rollout. That means 2,000,000 more Oklahomans are now eligible.
“Because of the progress we’ve made, I’ll be issuing a new executive order tomorrow. There will be no statewide restrictions on events or Oklahomans. I’m also removing the requirements to wear a mask in state buildings. More Oklahomans are getting vaccines each day, and the CDC’s new guidelines mean wearing a mask should be a personal decision based on your circumstances.
“But let me be clear: COVID is still here. Still in Oklahoma, it’s still in the United States, and we still need to do our part. You can still – and you’re even encouraged to wear a mask, depending on your circumstances. And I’ve said from the very beginning, the standard for normal cannot be zero cases.”
Two new executive orders have been posted to the Oklahoma secretary of state’s website today, one centering on the state’s driver’s license renewal window, the other detailing the statewide response to the pandemic moving forward.
Needless to say, the continued uptick in vaccinations and the corresponding return of traditional live music bodes well for musicians, who have suffered both financially and in terms of mental health due to lockdown restrictions and large-gathering bans.
Earlier this month, Governor Cuomo announced that New York music venues would be allowed to reopen at 33 percent capacity in April. Plus, some in the British live-event industry have backed the idea of a “vaccine passport.”
Fucking idiots. Wearing a mask has never been about the mask wearer, but about those who are protected by that person wearing the mask. Prepare to see OK become not so OK soon.
Joe, which randomized or controlled study in the past 20 years says that masks work? NONE OF THEM. Quit being a fucking moron and a sheeple. Educate yourself:
Coming from you and your comments that are zero stable or reality-based, no thanks. I’ll continue to wear a mask and support those who do as they work. There are many legitimate studies to show that masks work, but you choose either to ignore them or try to distort their truth. You need help.
BW Joe, ignore which studies? The study about masks published in the Lancet in late spring 2020 which was retracted because it was garbage? The Lancet is the medical journal that published the garbage study years ago that said “vaccines cause autism”, which they don’t. They had to retract that one, too.
Do you mean the study involving a machine blowing particles into masks and then a computer algorithm counting the droplets? That’s not really a “study”. That’s a bunch of losers chasing headlines and grant money.
Do you mean the statistical analysis “studies” that made headlines last summer that claim countries with supposedly tight lockdowns and mask mandates did better than countries that were not as totalitarian? That’s not really a randomized or controlled study. That is propaganda showing itself off as “statistical analysis”.
We never used masks in previous pandemics. I can look up major media stories during H1N1 in 2009, H3N2 in 1968-69, and even H2N2 in 1957. All docs and health care experts said then that masks aren’t needed and don’t work.
And if you point to those photos of people in 1918 wearing masks, keep in mind that the electron microscope wasn’t perfected until the late 1930s, and viruses can only be seen with an electron microscope.
Your move. Perhaps you want to burn the witch because it doesn’t agree with whatever you were told to think from the TV and internet. Maybe it’s time to get off the prescription drugs.
Do your own research. The studies are out there and have been out there for the past year. Masks work. Your unhinged responses are not something I will respond do. You need help.
anyone who still wears a mask in the great outdoors is an unbelievable lemming scumbag. enjoy dying from the vaccine you stupid pieces of shit. it will be like a self imposed holocaust of the woke and i will laugh my ass off.