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Broken Arrow Closes Bars, Limits Restaurants to Slow Spread of COVID-19

Rose District

Broken Arrow shut down bars and entertainment venues and limited restaurants to takeout or delivery at midnight Saturday.

The city council approved an emergency proclamation to implement those measures at a meeting on Thursday. Tulsa Health Department Executive Director Dr. Bruce Dart told them the restrictions are needed to stop the spread of COVID-19 because promising vaccines and treatments are at least a year away.

"So the future, our ability to respond to this medically is looking good. We have no capability today," Dart said.

Broken Arrow Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jennifer Conway said she surveyed all the city’s restaurants before the council's meeting.

"And out of 186, 177 are waiting and read to immediately go to purely curbside and pickup. And so, we’re ready," Conway said.

Mayor Craig Thurmond said he will rescind the proclamation as soon as conditions warrant it, even if that's two days later.

"I think the metric we need to use is when we see this flatten out, we need to allow people to go back to their normal lives, the way they’ve always done it," Thurmond said.

Broken Arrow’s restrictions are similar to ones implemented this week in Tulsa. Entertainment venues like theaters and arcades, fitness centers, spas, and smoking lounges must also close.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.
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