Blue Cross Blue Shield Oklahoma Give Out 100,000 Face Masks

Friday, 100,000 masks were given away across Oklahoma by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. 

Tulsans of all ages picked up masks at the YMCA locations in town.

“My favorite so far was there was two senior sisters that came around probably in their 80s. I gave it to them, and they said 'thank you so much we haven’t been able to afford these through the pandemic'," said Kyle Wilkes with YMCA.

The line of people picking up masks started before the planned time of 10 a.m., and it took less than two-and-a-half hours to hand out 5,000 masks at the Tandy YMCA. 

"With the pandemic kind of raging right now especially in Oklahoma with the COVID rates going up. What better time for us to get out into our community and help those that maybe don’t have access to good masks," said Dr. Todd Hoffman.

Dr. Hoffman is the Chief Medical Officer for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma. He said they are trying to reach more Oklahomans by having the drive-thru pick up locations in Oklahoma City, Enid, Bartlesville, Perry, and Tulsa. 

“There’s a lot of need in Oklahoma. So where can we take that big stock pile of masks and do the greatest good," said Dr. Hoffman. He said they're hoping to reduce the spread of COVID in Oklahoma. 

“Just thinking about all this time and that need they have and being able to fill that gap is something we take great pride in," said Wilkes.