With a timetable close to the state, the City of Tulsa will lift the coronavirus stay-at-home order on May 1.

Mayor G.T. Bynum wanted to delay the action but with the decision by Gov. Kevin Stitt for an incremental opening of the state, Bynum said he had little choice to not follow suit. Plus, most of Tulsa’s suburbs embraced the lifting of restrictions.

“Tulsa does not exist in a bubble,” Bynum said.

Statewide, coronavirus infections are declining but in Tulsa County, infections are still moving slightly upward.

“Waiting on those cases (of local infections) to decline as people for 100 miles in every direction are being encouraged to ease social distancing would be futile,” the mayor said.

In May, Bynum said gatherings of 10 or more people are banned. Tulsa playgrounds and parks remain closed. City day camps and pools will not open this summer. And Bynum said non-essential travel should be curtailed.

City golf courses and tennis facilities will be reopened on May 1 with additional safety precautions put in place.

Businesses don’t have to re-open and Tulsans are urged to continue wearing masks in public and practicing “social distancing.”