Oklahoma County Leaders Convene At 1st Coronavirus (COVID-19) Emergency Response Committee Meeting

A special Oklahoma County coronavirus (COVID-19) response committee met for the first time Monday.

Several normal county and court operations have moved completely online.

Deep cleaning is already taking place throughout the county and court building, and additional options are being explored.

“We continue very positive action in regard to cleaning throughout the building. We have additional staff that’s been brought on for decontamination type situations,” Director of Oklahoma County Emergency Management David Barnes said.

Barnes encourages online paperwork rather than coming to the courthouse when possible.

Within the building, marriage license and VPO processing have been moved to the first floor, to avoid repeated elevator use by visitors.

“With exception to maybe the VPO piece, those are non-critical type things, and a little bit of time is not going to substantially change that,” Barnes said.

During the emergency response meeting, Barnes updated other local leaders on the state of the coronavirus response.

The committee agreed to align the county’s emergency declaration timeline with the states.

“We just encourage people to practice social distancing and the guidance that they have been hearing over and over,” Barnes said.

That includes county employees, many of whom are now working remotely, handling as much incoming paperwork as possible online.

“Interdepartmental meetings as well as some other meetings are taking place virtually also online. And those efforts continue to grow,” Barnes said.