Crowds Gather for Trump Rally despite Virus Fears

Long queues have formed outside an arena where President Donald Trump will hold his first rally since March when the US coronavirus lockdown began.

There are concerns the event at Tulsa's 19,000-seat Bank of Oklahoma Center could increase the spread of Covid-19.

Those attending must sign a waiver protecting the Trump campaign from responsibility for any illness.

Hours before the rally, the campaign said six staff members involved in organising it had tested positive.

On Friday, Oklahoma's supreme court rejected a lawsuit asking that social distancing guidelines be followed.

The Trump campaign has said attendees will have to pass temperature checks before being allowed into the venue - and that they will be offered face masks.

More than 2.2 million cases of Covid-19 and 119,000 associated deaths have been reported in the US, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Mr Trump's re-election campaign rally will be one of the biggest indoor gatherings in the US since the country's Covid-19 outbreak began.

Campaign officials said they had received more than a million ticket requests, and that the president would speak inside the BOK Center as well as at an outdoor stage set up nearby for overflow crowds.

Supporters began queuing earlier this week for a chance to get into the arena, and 100,000 people or more were expected to gather in central Tulsa.

This week the number of new cases of Covid-19 in Oklahoma has been rising and local health officials fear the rally could become a "super spreader" event.

There will be no social distancing at the rally. And although face masks will be given out to those attending, the president will not be wearing one.

Attendees will have to accept a disclaimer that they "voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to Covid-19 and agree not to hold Donald J. Trump for President, Inc." liable for any illness or injury.

In a Facebook post, Tulsa Mayor GT Bynum acknowledged that Tulsa's residents were divided over it being the first city to host such an event.

"We do this as our positive Covid-19 cases are rising, but while our hospital capacity remains strong. Some think it is great, some think it is reckless. Regardless of where each of us falls on that spectrum, we will go through it as a community," he wrote.

Source: BBC