Commissioner Frye issues ‘Safer in Oklahoma’ health advisory

Posted on: 8/14/20

Interim Health Commissioner Lance Frye, MD today announced a new statewide health advisory has been issued, calling on all Oklahomans to strengthen our commitment to combatting COVID-19 in the state.

The ‘Safer in Oklahoma’ Health Advisory reinforces public health precautions and includes the following recommendations: increased public and private testing capacity and more tests with a turnaround time of 48 hours or less; an enhanced data collection system; mask recommendations for people 11 and older, for populations in communal living facilities; mask and table distancing guidelines for restaurants when the county is in elevated (red or orange) alert levels; a mask policy for travelers entering Oklahoma from areas with high levels of community spread; a limit to indoor gatherings; and recommended weekly testing for all staff at long-term care facilities.

“Oklahoma continues to work aggressively to combat COVID-19 in each of our communities, through both personal and socially responsible actions,” said Interim Health Commissioner Lance Frye, M.D. “While we are encouraged to see our case numbers continue to trend down and our hospitalization numbers on the decline, I want to caution that now is not the time to ease up on our efforts. While many efforts are inconveniences now, actions like face mask wearing, social distancing and hand washing are key to stopping the spread of the virus.”

The full ‘Safer in Oklahoma’ Health Advisory is posted to the coronavirus.health.ok.gov website and can be found by clicking here.

Current state testing capacity through our public health lab network is up to over 6,000 tests per day, with a turnaround time within 48-72 hours. Oklahoma has recently added an additional contracted lab to this network with the ability to process 30,000 tests per day with the same short turnaround time.

To date, Oklahoma has seen 46,103 confirmed positive cases and 638 deaths due to COVID-19, with 7% cumulative positivity per specimen.

For more information on contact tracing, please visit the COVID-19 dashboard. (The Oklahoma State Department of Health, Aug. 13, 2020)