(Oklahoma City, OK) Gov. Kevin Stitt announced Sunday he will expand a gubernatorial task force to enhance the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Stitt’s announcement came as some elected officials and business leaders are calling on the governor to take stronger actions to curb the spread of coronavirus as 67 Oklahomans already have tested positive for the illness and two have died. The Governor’s Solution Task Force, comprising members of Stitt’s staff, his cabinet, interim State Epidemiologist Aaron Wendelboe and Brigadier General Tommy Mancino, Assistant Adjutant General of the Oklahoma National Guard, will come up with comprehensive solutions to help the state respond to COVID-19, Stitt said. The task force is compiling data on coronavirus cases in Oklahoma and building models to determine when or where the number of cases might spike, he said.
A man in his 50s in Pawnee County has died in connection with the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, as the number of those testing positive rose to 67 Sunday, March 22, 2020, with one of those in Noble County, adjacent to Garfield County, according to the Oklahoma State Department of Health. He is the second death in the state of someone who had tested positive for COVID-19.
