Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Oklahoma's Governor Says He Has Tested Positive for COVID-19
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
July 15, 2020

Share

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt announced Wednesday that he’s the first governor in the United States to test positive for the coronavirus and that he is isolating at home.
Stitt, 48, said he mostly feels fine, although he started feeling “a little achy” on Tuesday and sought a test. He said his wife and children were also tested Tuesday and that none of them have tested positive.
Stitt has backed one of the country’s most aggressive reopening plans, resisted any statewide mandate on masks and rarely wears one himself.
“We respect people’s rights … to not wear a mask,” Stitt said during Wednesday’s news conference, which was held virtually. “You just open up a big can of worms.
“A lot of businesses are requiring it, and that’s fine. I’m just hesitant to mandate something that I think is problematic to enforce,” he said.
Stitt attended President Donald Trump’s rally in Tulsa last month, which health experts have said likely contributed to a surge in coronavirus cases there.
Stitt said he’s confident he didn’t contract the virus at the rally.

Coronavirus-Related Hospitalizations Also Are Surging in Oklahoma

“As far as where he became infected, it’s really unknown,” Oklahoma Health Commissioner Lance Frye said. “It wasn’t so far back as the rally,” which took place nearly a month ago.
Stitt’s announcement came as Oklahoma reported a second consecutive day of record-high numbers of confirmed virus cases, with 1,075 new cases, bringing the statewide total to more than 22,000. The previous daily high was 993 confirmed cases on Tuesday. Health officials also confirmed four additional COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, bringing the statewide death toll to 432.
Coronavirus-related hospitalizations also are surging in Oklahoma, increasing from 458 last week to 561 on Wednesday, although Frye said there is still plenty of hospital capacity.
Stitt came under fire early in the pandemic after he tweeted a photo of himself and his children eating at a crowded restaurant.
One of Stitt’s cabinet members, David Ostrowe, tested positive for the coronavirus in March.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Today Harvard Is the Target. Tomorrow It Could Be Your Church.

DON'T MISS

‘Luigi Mangione Act’ Seeks to Block Health Insurance Denials, Sparks Outrage Over Name

DON'T MISS

Jerry Springer — Yes, That Jerry Springer — Can Save the Democrats

DON'T MISS

Newark Airport Has Another Radar Outage

DON'T MISS

Judge Orders Release of Tufts Student Detained by ICE

DON'T MISS

White House Confirms Trump Fired Librarian of Congress

DON'T MISS

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Michael Lee Brewer

DON'T MISS

Fresno State Awards Honorary Doctorates to Educator, Prisons Official, Businessman

DON'T MISS

Floods Exposed Weaknesses in California Prisons’ Emergency Plans. They Still Aren’t Ready

DON'T MISS

White House Dismisses Democrats on Consumer Product Safety Commission

UP NEXT

Former Supreme Court Justice David Souter, a Republican Who Became a Liberal Darling, Dies at 85

UP NEXT

Pope Leo XIV Celebrates First Mass as Pope and Calls His Election Both a Cross and a Blessing

UP NEXT

Selma Bear Sighting Prompts Police, Wildlife Response

UP NEXT

Republicans’ Trust in Media Increases Following Trump’s Return to White House

UP NEXT

Rejoicing Peruvians See Pope Leo XIV as One of Their Own After His Many Years in Peru

UP NEXT

Shohei Ohtani Could Have Landed 15-Year Deal, Agent Says, but He Didn’t Want to Risk Skills Decline

UP NEXT

Joe Biden Blames Kamala Harris’ Loss on Sexism and Racism and Rejects Concerns About His Age

UP NEXT

Before Tariff Price Increases, Mark Cuban Suggests Stocking Up on These Items

UP NEXT

He Was Killed in a Road Rage Shooting. AI Allowed Him to Deliver His Own Victim Impact Statement

UP NEXT

More Older Americans Worry Social Security Won’t Be There for Them

Newark Airport Has Another Radar Outage

22 minutes ago

Judge Orders Release of Tufts Student Detained by ICE

26 minutes ago

White House Confirms Trump Fired Librarian of Congress

47 minutes ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Michael Lee Brewer

2 hours ago

Fresno State Awards Honorary Doctorates to Educator, Prisons Official, Businessman

2 hours ago

Floods Exposed Weaknesses in California Prisons’ Emergency Plans. They Still Aren’t Ready

2 hours ago

White House Dismisses Democrats on Consumer Product Safety Commission

2 hours ago

Residents Stockpile Food, Rush to Bunkers as Conflict Rattles India and Pakistan

2 hours ago

Other States Are Showing California How to Protect Its Budget Without Cutting Needed Services

3 hours ago

Nitrous Oxide Recreational Use Risks: Brain Damage, Death, and Easy Access

3 hours ago

Today Harvard Is the Target. Tomorrow It Could Be Your Church.

A Weaponized Tax Code Could Backfire on Conservatives. Conservatives like me once instinctively understood that expanding government power —...

4 minutes ago

https://www.communitymedical.org/thecause?utm_source=Misfit+Digital&utm_medium=GVWire+Banner+Ads&utm_campaign=Branding+2025&utm_content=thecause
4 minutes ago

Today Harvard Is the Target. Tomorrow It Could Be Your Church.

Suspect Luigi Mangione is taken into the Blair County Courthouse on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, in Hollidaysburg, Pa. (Benjamin B. Braun/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)
7 minutes ago

‘Luigi Mangione Act’ Seeks to Block Health Insurance Denials, Sparks Outrage Over Name

13 minutes ago

Jerry Springer — Yes, That Jerry Springer — Can Save the Democrats

Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, N.J., on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. An air traffic control facility that guides planes at Newark Liberty suffered a 90-second radar outage just before 4 a.m on the morning of May 9, the latest technological disruption at one of the nation’s busiest airports. (Dakota Santiago/The New York Times)
22 minutes ago

Newark Airport Has Another Radar Outage

People rally in support of Rumeysa Ozturk during a hearing at the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse in Boston, on April 3, 2025. A federal judge said Ozturk’s detention threatened to chill the speech of millions of noncitizens. (Sophie Park/The New York Times)
26 minutes ago

Judge Orders Release of Tufts Student Detained by ICE

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden speaks during a discussion with historians on how to "establish and preserve the narrative of January 6th" on the one-year anniversary of the attack on the Capitol in Washington, U.S., January 6, 2022. Al Drago/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
47 minutes ago

White House Confirms Trump Fired Librarian of Congress

Michael Lee Brewer is Valley Crime Stoppers' Most Wanted Person of the Day for May 8, 2025. (Valley Crimes Stoppers)
2 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Michael Lee Brewer

2 hours ago

Fresno State Awards Honorary Doctorates to Educator, Prisons Official, Businessman

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend