Oklahoma officials are trying to soothe public concerns about the coronavirus.
Gov. Kevin Stitt said he's been in constant contact with the Oklahoma State Department of Health and believes they are ready. Director of Emergency Response Scott Sproat says they’ve gone their range of possible responses in case there’s an outbreak of the virus, no matter large or small.
"Basic emergency response plans, a pandemic influenza plan, the state’s emergency operations plan that all work in conjunction and coordination with each other," Sproat said. "If we had to activate and request supplies from the strategic national stockpile, that’s another plan we have in place with the federal government, coordinated across the state."
So far, none of the tests state health officials have sent to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta has come back positive. Five came back negative, and results for the sixth are pending.
Oklahoma is one of six states that cannot do its own testing. State Commissioner of Health Gary Cox said that should change soon because Oklahoma has received its own kits.
"The public health laboratory at the state health department have received test kits, and we are actually in the process of validating those test kits to make sure that they work as expected. It is anticipated that we will begin running samples in our state health department laboratory next week," Cox said.
Health officials said if you have symptoms and believe you were exposed to coronavirus, call a health care provider, don’t just show up to a hospital.
