US Oklahoma governor tests positive for coronavirus

WASHINGTON - The governor of the US state of Oklahoma said Wednesday that he tested positive for novel coronavirus, becoming the first governor to publicly confirm infection since the pandemic spread in the country.

"I got tested yesterday for Covid-19 and the results came back positive," Governor Kevin Stitt told reporters. "I feel fine; I felt a little bit achy yesterday."

The Republican governor said he was isolating himself from other family members and working from home.

According to local media report, Stitt led a meeting of the Commissioners of the Land Office on Tuesday. He wore a mask around his neck, instead of covering his mouth with it, when hosting the meeting and answering reporters' questions afterwards.

Despite his positive test, Stitt didn't think it necessary to reinstate lockdown measures, saying that "going back and bunkering in place doesn't remove" the virus.

Neither was the governor interested in reversing the state's reopening. "It's way way premature to think of slowing down or backing up," he said.

Oklahoma has seen record increase of cases since President Donald Trump held a campaign rally in the city of Tulsa in the state on June 20, which Stitt also attended.

The state recorded a total of 21,783 cases as of Tuesday, up 993 cases compared to the previous day, according to the latest data from Oklahoma State Department of Health. The death toll reached 428.

Particularly in Tulsa, a senior local health official said the surge in cases might be linked to the Trump rally and the protests against it that happened at the time.

"The past two days we've had almost 500 cases, and we know we had several large events a little over two weeks ago, which is about right," Tulsa Health Department Executive Director Bruce Dart said during a news conference on July 8. "So I guess we just connect the dots."