Local coronavirus task force dismantled

D.E. Smoot, Muskogee Phoenix, Okla.
·2 min read

May 11—City and county leaders on Monday dissolved a local task force assembled nearly 14 months ago to help them navigate the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The move included lifting any restrictions and erasing emergency powers authorized by resolutions and subsequent amendments. Task force members, however, urged continued compliance with pandemic protocols.

"We don't think that this is over, but we think we're at a point where it's under control and everything that could possibly be done was done and is currently being done," said Muskogee County District Attorney Orvil Loge, task force chairman. "We do want everybody to pay attention as we go forward with the current CDC guidelines."

Loge said the past year proved to be a "trying time for everybody." The 11-member task force, made up elected officials from city and county officials, emergency managers and others, "stepped up and addressed a situation that was affecting everybody in the world."

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases in Oklahoma has dropped from 237 new cases a day to 206 since April 9. Oklahoma's COVID-19 test positivity rate has fallen from 6.7% to 4.5% during the same period.

CDC data show transmission level of the novel coronavirus is moderate in Muskogee County and most surrounding counties. The transmission level is high in Okmulgee County, CDC data show, and substantial in Tulsa County.

City Attorney Roy Tucker said task force recommendations were based primarily on the "widespread availability of vaccines." CDC data show nearly 18,400 Muskogee County residents — 27% of all residents — were fully vaccinated on Monday.

Deputy Mayor Derrick Reed, who organized a vaccination clinic at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center for underserved populations, said attention has shifted now to those who are hesitant about being vaccinated. While 66.1% of the county's population 65 and older are vaccinated, the rate drops to 35.5% for residents 18 and older.