OKLAHOMA CITY (April 1, 2020)— Governor Kevin Stitt today held a press conference to provide an update on the State’s response to COVID-19 and announce he has issued Seventh Amended Executive Order (EO) 2020-07.
“The best way to slow the curve and stop the spread of COVID-19 is through aggressive testing and tracing, as well as continuing to practice social distancing,” said Gov. Stitt. “I know how much these decisions affect people, but this is the right time to take these steps in order to protect our health care workers, our hospital systems and each other. These next few weeks are critical, and it will take all of us doing our part to stop the spread in Oklahoma.”
Seventh Amended EO 2020-07 extends all of the provisions in Executive Order 2020-07 to April 30th and applies to all 77 counties in Oklahoma.
The amended Executive Order provides for the following statewide measures:
During the press conference, the governor announced the State has lifted some of the restrictions on who can be tested for COVID-19. The state now has 13,000 COVID-19 test kits available, and Oklahoma State University has opened its lab to process a minimum of 2,300 tests per day.
“Anyone with symptoms of COVID-19, or those who have been in direct contact with someone who has been diagnosed needs to be tested,” said Stitt. “One of the things that will help the modeling is more test results – that’s why it’s so important for our health care providers and our local health departments to test as many people as possible.”
The governor also announced that the state now has six drive-thru testing locations around Oklahoma, including ones that recently opened in Altus, Woodward and Lawton. A comprehensive list of testing sites can be found at coronavirus.health.ok.gov.
In addition, the governor provided an update on the modeling that state epidemiologists and experts from Oklahoma’s research universities are actively working to produce in order to provide accurate data to drive decisions regarding COVID-19.
The main model Governor Stitt talked about today comes from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). The IHME model has also been frequently referenced by the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
The modeling underway with the Oklahoma State Department of Health and state research universities is still being finalized and the State will work with these institutes to help make them available once they have a final product.
To read Seventh Amended EO 2020-07, click here.
To watch the governor’s full press conference, click here.