Jan 15, 2021
DERRICK JAMES | Staff photoThe Pittsburg County Court Clerk s Office located in the Pittsburg County Courthouse in McAlester is closed to the public until further notice due to COVID-19 concerns.
The Pittsburg County Court Clerkâs Office will be closed to the public until further notice due to COVID-19 concerns.
District 18 District Judge Mike Hogan issued the order effective Thursday.
Pittsburg County Court Clerk Pam Smith said the decision was made for the safety of the public and the employees of the office due to concerns over COVID-19.
The office was previously closed during the entire month of December for similar reasons by Hogan when the judge ordered the closing of courtrooms, chambers, and the court clerkâs office to the public due to rising COVID-19 numbers in the state.
As COVID-19 cases surge across Oklahoma, hospital leaders throughout the state remain in talks with ethicists and lawyers over how to handle the allocation of critical resources for patients on the brink of death.
Those conversations heated up in April, when the Oklahoma Department of Health with input from doctors, chief medical officers and other healthcare experts published its Hospital Crisis Standards of Care, a set of guidelines for delivering healthcare if resources run scarce during the pandemic.
“It is the most sobering conversation I’ve ever been a part of,” said Patti Davis, president of the Oklahoma Hospital Association.
On Sunday, the Oklahoma State Department of Health reported a record 6,487