OKLAHOMA CITY – Still quarantined because of his COVID-19 exposure, Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt said Tuesday that Oklahoma has entered a new normal in dealing with coronavirus pandemic.
Stitt said Oklahomans had done ‘a really good job’ pushing back against the virus. He said state residents had done better than any other state in their fight against the pandemic. “We’ve got one of the lowest, we are in the bottom 10 percent in the number of cases per 100,000 population,” he said.
Last week Stitt announced he had tested positive for the coronavirus. Tuesday, the governor said none of the people who were around him had, so far, tested positive for the virus.
The governor’s announcement came at the same time Interim Health Commissioner Col. Lance Frye announced a backlog of 820 positive coronavirus cases which were unreported. With the backlog added, as of Tuesday, 27,147 Oklahomans had tested positive for the virus.
“We’ve been trying to navigate this pandemic with an antiquated system,” Frye said. “The backlog reported today is not indicative of our efforts to communicate directly to confirmed cases.”
With the number of COVID-19 infections climbing daily in Oklahoma, several large communities – including both Tulsa and Oklahoma City – have issued new ordinances that require residents to wear masks for face shields in indoor spaces that are open to the public. The ordinance includes exemptions for children under 10 and those who have medical or health conditions which could be exacerbated by the mask.
Stitt, who up until recently was rarely seen in a mask, said he was “feeling 100 percent.” He said Oklahomans should listen to guidance from public health officials and take personal responsibility to fight the virus.
“We can minimize the spread of COVID-19 when we work together and when we realize our personal actions impact our neighbors,” he said. “We’re in a new normal.”
He said Frye, the health commissioner, was working with executives from several state hospitals to modify the state’s hospital surge plan to expand the number of COVID-19 flex centers from two to seven.
“This adjustment increases our COVID-19 flex beds in the Oklahoma City metro area by 125 percent, and gives us the ability to treat more patients,” he said. The use of flex beds, he said, will also allow hospitals to continue to offer services as usual, such as elective, non-emergency surgeries.”
Should the need arise, Stitt said, the state could again limit non-elective surgeries to deal with a surge of coronavirus patients. “We do not want to get to this point,” he said. “We need Oklahomans to practice public health measures, so we never have to flip these switches.”