Oklahoma House Minority Leader Emily Virgin is holding a presser right now about coronavirus response. She's calling for a statewide mask mandate, either by Stitt or by #okleg in special session.
Virgin: First, we heard it's a freedom issue. Then we heard it's unenforceable. Other states and peer reviewed studies have disproven all of this. "The governor is frankly running out of excuses for his failed leadership, and Oklahomans are dying as he does."
Virgin: My own parents contracted the virus and were hospitalized. My mother was in the ICU. "I know personally what families all across Oklahoma are going through."
Virgin: "They're both home and doing well but still have lingering effects." They have it better than many Oklahomans, who wouldn't have the opportunity to stay home from work to recover.
Virgin: Gov. Stitt says he's asking Oklahomans to do the right thing to protect each other. "Well, governor, we're asking you to do the right thing." Other republican states can take mitigation measures to protect their people, and we can too.
Virgin: I understand Oklahomans want to protect their personal freedoms. That's in the spirit of our state. "This is not an issue of liberty. This is an issue of humanity."
Virgin: Calling mask mandates unenforceable is an excuse. We have all kinds of laws that are difficult to enforce. We don't abandon them because of it. We see from the state's own data that the spread in communities with mandates is lower than in those without.
Virgin: Swearing in is tomorrow. We could come together and get work done that day instead of limiting it to the pomp and circumstance of the swearing in ceremony.
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