State Health Leaders Give Update After Alarming Spike In COVID-19 Case Numbers

Officials said the rise in COVID-19 case numbers are concerning, but state epidemiologist Jared Taylor said we are unable to see where the hotspots are within the state.

"The challenges of that are immense from the time of diagnosis to the number of cases we have to the technology to do it, to the cooperation of people," Taylor said. 

This weekend, the state health department reported a record number of 4,507 new cases. Taylor said just under 1,000 of those cases reported are due to backlog.

Oklahoma does not have a statewide mask mandate, and state Health Commissioner Dr. Lance Frye said it would not help our current numbers.

"I can tell you that we had some information presented to us that looked at several mitigation factors, and mask mandate is one that made the least difference. I am not saying masks do not work. I'm just saying it was the mandate that does not work. So, we need mask compliance," said Frye.

Frye said his staff and the governor continue to look at different options for slowing the spread of COVID-19.

"We are talking about closing restaurants, limiting capacity, closing bars, limiting hours on bars, limiting capacity, limiting large gatherings, limiting large indoor sporting events. Limiting spectators or banning spectators from indoor sporting events. We take a look at all of those things as far as you hear of mitigation efforts," said Taylor.

Related: Officials Address Statewide Spike In COVID-19 Cases