In the news we were all expecting to hear, Tulsa Health Department Director Dr. Bruce Dart is now all but confirming Donald Trump's Tulsa, Oklahoma campaign rally a few weeks ago has produced hundreds of new COVID-19 infections in the county.
As reported by The Associated Press, Dart is constrained by department policy in identifying any specific infection source (a stupid policy that needs revision, if it is impeding informing citizens of specific dangers to their health) but still spelled out the circumstances quite clearly: “In the past few days, we’ve seen almost 500 new cases, and we had several large events just over two weeks ago, so I guess we just connect the dots.”
The 500 new Tulsa cases almost certainly do not include others who attended the campaign rally but tested positive only after returning to their home states. Trump ally Herman Cain, who was still hospitalized for "serious" COVID-19 symptoms as of Monday, would fall into that broader category, as would attending campaign staff, Secret Service members, and reporters who have tested positive.
In other news, Houston, Texas Mayor Sylvester Turner and city convention center operator Houston First have now informed the Republican Party of Texas that they can pound sand, cancelling the party's in-person Houston convention set for next week. The move came a day after the party itself announced that important Texas Republicans like Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick would be giving their speeches remotely, via video, while leaving the 6,000 less important Republican conventioneers to take their chances with the virus.
Given Tulsa's experience, you'd have to be ten different kind of stupid to want to show up.
Meanwhile, in Jacksonville, Florida, cases have risen almost tenfold in the last two weeks—but as of right now, the Republican National Convention is still scheduled to go forward.