OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – by: Kaylee Douglas
Posted:
Updated:On Sunday, Governor Kevin Stitt gave an update on the state’s status in dealing with the coronavirus.
Governor Stitt said he had four goals for Oklahoma:
- Protect the health and lives of Oklahomans
- Mitigate the impact on Oklahoma’s economy
- Position the state to recover from this crisis as quickly as possible
- To continue the desire to achieve Oklahoma’s full potential to be a top-10 state
The governor says four mobile testing sites will be up and running this week. The testing sites will be located in Kay Co., McAlester, Tulsa, and Oklahoma City.
The unemployment claims have almost doubled in one week, according to the governor.
“My heart is breaking for Oklahomans who are struggling, who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own through this crisis,” said Stitt.
He continued to say they have waived the waiting period to get unemployment benefits and small businesses can now apply for Small Business Association low-interest loans.
Stitt also says that the National Guard has not shut down the state’s borders.
Major General Michael Thompson says there are currently 19 National Guard soldiers mobilized at this time for the coronavirus response.
There will be a new partnership with Google to help test Oklahomans, according to Jerome Loughridge, Secretary of Oklahoma Health and Human Services.
Dr. Kayse Shrum, Oklahoma Secretary of Science and Innovation, says we should be able to expand the testing capability by ten-fold within a week.
All of the leaders at the conference today reiterated the CDC’s guidelines.
Yesterday, Stitt issued an amendment to an executive order on Saturday that allows the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University labs to conduct COVID-19 testing.