Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt announced yesterday that as the state recovers from the worst of the winter surge of coronavirus, that he was lifting all restrictions on public gatherings.
“Because of the progress we have made, I will be issuing a new executive order tomorrow. There will be no statewide restrictions on events,” Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said during a press conference on Thursday.
Stitt, a Republican, also announced that the state was no longer mandating that people wear facemasks inside of state buildings.
“More Oklahomans are getting vaccines each day, and the CDC’s new guidelines mean wearing a mask should be a personal decision based on your circumstances,” Stitt said.
The relaxed mask and event restrictions will go into effect on Friday when the Governor says he plans to issue a new executive order detailing the changes.
New cases of COVID-19 have fallen sharply in Oklahoma in recent weeks with just 694 new cases reported Thursday, according to the state’s Department of Health.
Oklahoma is one of a number of states that in recent weeks have moved to relax measures intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including California, which earlier this week announced that public events at sports stadium can resume with limited capacity next month.
However, earlier this week, Dr. Rochelle Walensky Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, issued a warning that state governments and the public need to continue to take precautions to prevent a fourth wave as variants of the virus become prevalent.
