Governor Stitt Extends 'Safer At Home' Executive Order To All 77 Counties

Governor Kevin Stitt extended his safer at home policy to all 77 counties.

In a press conference Wednesday afternoon, he called for more testing, as a predicted surge of cases is just weeks away.

In addition to the added counties, the order has also been extended in length to April 30.

“By the end of this week we should have 13 mobile testing facilities across the state,” said Governor Kevin Stitt.

The safer at home order is meant for adults over the age of 65, and those with serious health conditions.

Aside from prolonged business closures, the order also means elective surgeries, minor medical procedures and non-emergency dental procedures will be delayed.

Nursing homes and long-term care facilities will also be off-limits to the general public.

Gatherings are still limited to 10 people or less.

While some representatives at the Capitol, such as Jason Lowe and Emily Virgin, are calling for a “shelter-in-place” order, Stitt said he believes he’s taken the right action to keep Oklahoma safe, but economically healthy.

“I know how much these decisions effect people. I have agonized over all of these decisions, but this is the right time to take these steps to protect health care workers, our hospital systems, and each other from catching COVID-19,” he said.

Governor Stitt has called for aggressive testing and tracing, and for immediate response from mobile test sites.

Oklahoma 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.

“We were doing testing, but we were having to send it out of state and this is an example how Oklahomans can take care of Oklahomans, and get tests turned around more quickly,” said Dr. Kayce Shurm, President of OSU Center for Health Sciences.

Recently, the state opened new test sites in Altus, Woodward and Lawton.

Again, by the end of the week the Governor hopes to have 13 test sites in operation.