OKLAHOMA CITY — Gov. Kevin Stitt on Tuesday said he feels well after testing positive for COVID-19 last week.
Stitt announced last week he tested positive for the virus, the first governor in the nation to do so.
Stitt during a Zoom teleconference call with hospital officials said he feels well, but a couple of days ago experienced stuffiness.
He has been quarantining at home, adding that he is missing his wife and children.
“Also, great success story — no one that I came in direct contact with since last Saturday has tested positive,” he said.
Stitt said he has no fever, shortness of breath or cough. He is taking Vitamin C, Vitamin D, zinc and immune boosters.
Meanwhile, Health Commissioner Lance Frye said during the same call Tuesday that the state’s hospital infrastructure remains in a good position to treat the current rate of COVID-19 cases.
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The medium hospital stay for COVID-19 in the United States is 10 to 13 days, while Oklahoma’s is five to eight days.
Stitt said Frye has been working with hospitals to modify the state’s surge plan and increase hospital bed capacity.
“Should Oklahoma experience a worst-case scenario we always have the levers to pull to limit non-emergency surgeries across different regions of our state to make more beds and staffing available for COVID,” Stitt said.
Frye said 340 additional beds have been added on top of the normal capacity of hospitals. It involves seven Oklahoma City area hospitals and one in Tulsa.
He said the Oklahoma State Department of Health has uncovered a backlog of 820 positive COVID-19 cases not previously reported.
“As you are aware, we have had technology challenges over the last few days,” Frye said. “We have been trying to navigate this pandemic with an antiquated system.”
Frye said the health department expects a full resolution in the coming days, but it is hard to predict if the technical problems will be ongoing.
The backlog brings the cumulative cases to 27,147, Frye said.
The system was never built to take on a pandemic, Frye said, adding that the agency is working with a company to patch it until a new system can be put in place.
The system crashed several times over the past week, Frye said.
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