Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said Wednesday that he has COVID-19, making him the first state leader in the country to announce that he has tested positive for coronavirus as the country experiences a surge in new cases.
Stitt, a Republican, told local media that his symptoms are minor right now and that he is isolating himself.
“I feel good,” Stitt said, adding that he felt a little sore. “He was quite surprised that he was the first governor to do it.”
CLICK HERE FOR FULL CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE
Stitt chaired a meeting of the Land Office commissioners on Tuesday, attended by three of the five commission members and Republican Rep. Mark McBride. The governor did not wear a mask at the meeting, and a mandatory quarantine for attendees has yet to be determined.
Stitt, who wore a mask at a press conference for the first time on June 30 and has since encouraged Oklahomans to put it on, attended the President Trump rally in Tulsa last month. Very few people in the crowd of 6,200 people wore masks.
However, both Stitt and state Health Commissioner Lance Frye said the event was too long ago to cause the governor to become infected and that Stitt likely contracted the virus in the past two weeks.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
State health officials announced Tuesday that more than 1,000 more people tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, setting a new record for most reported single-day cases in the state. The 993 new cases in the last 24 hours exceeded 10 days from June 1 to June 10, and also coincided with an increase in hospitalizations.
Overall, there are nearly 22,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Oklahoma with the virus responsible for 432 deaths, according to figures compiled by the state.
