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OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – As the number of coronavirus cases in Oklahoma continues to increase, Democratic leaders are calling for more COVID-19 funding.

On Wednesday morning, data from the Oklahoma State Department of Health shows that the state has had 8,904 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since March. Data pix.

That’s an increase of 259 cases in the past 24 hours, or a 3% jump.

Oklahoma House Minority Leader Emily Virgin says additional federal funding is needed to battle the virus, especially since President Trump’s visit is expected to bring hundreds of thousands of people together in Tulsa this weekend.

“If Oklahoma’s governor and Tulsa’s mayor won’t stick up to their party and protect the health of Oklahomans and our state’s economy, then we need to ensure that the resources are in place to deal with the potential consequences. Over the last week, Oklahoma has seen its cases climb in record numbers. We cannot continue to ignore data and expect COVID-19 to simply go away,’ Rep. Virgin said in a statement. “The president has said he is expecting nearly a million people at the indoor event, which if true, will require additional federal assistance. Public health officials including Tulsa’s own health department director are warning that this event could have dire consequences for Oklahomans and has the potential to overwhelm hospital capacity. If we are going to be proactive, we need additional federal funding to ensure that we can recover from any fallout due to a population equal to one-fourth of our state gathering together during a pandemic.”