During a special meeting held Monday, the Bartlesville City Council voted 5-0 to approve several items related to the Covid-19 pandemic, including the appropriation of leftover CARES Act funds for a public messaging campaign aimed at slowing the spread of the virus locally.
The council voted in support of a resolution stating the importance of following CDC guidelines to help protect the community from spread of the disease, which is currently occurring at an accelerated rate locally and across most of the country. According to the Oklahoma State Department of Health, as of today 1,891 people in Washington County have had Covid-19 and 46 county residents have died from the disease.
The council on Monday was asked to consider appropriating $23,380 in CARES Act funding for an informational campaign educating the community about the disease and encouraging adherence with CDC guidelines to help mitigate spread of the virus.
“Our intent is to promote adherence to CDC’s guidelines but specifically to emphasize the importance of the ‘three Ws’: Wear a mask, Watch your distance, and Wash your hands,” Bailey said. “We know these practices work. We all just have to do a better job of incorporating them consistently, both in the workplace and outside of it. This campaign will be a targeted effort to increase compliance in these areas.
The campaign will include social media messaging, community partnerships and citizen participation, information sharing and content support.
Bailey said work on the campaign is underway and that details will be announced soon.