Changes coming after Gov. Kevin Stitt rescinds Oklahoma's COVID-19 state of emergency

Oklahoma's COVID-19 state of emergency came to an end Tuesday, changing how the state collects virus data and triggering forthcoming changes to public meetings and benefits extended to low-income families. 

Gov. Kevin Stitt announced Monday he signed an executive order to lift the state of emergency he put in place in mid-March 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stitt's executive action comes as many governors have relaxed COVID restrictions in recent months as the number of people vaccinated continues to rise. 

At least two other governors, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, both Republicans, have lifted their emergency declarations. Emergency orders in roughly two dozen states are set to expire this month unless the declarations are extended. 

In a news release, Stitt's office noted that new COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations have dramatically decreased as vaccines have rolled out across the country. Roughly 30% of Oklahomans are fully vaccinated. 

“Because Oklahomans used personal responsibility to protect themselves, their families and our most vulnerable, the data shows COVID-19 is no longer an emergency,” Stitt said. 

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Stitt declared a state of emergency when Oklahoma recorded its eighth COVID-19 case. Nearly 450,000 Oklahomans, or more than 10% of the state's population, contracted the virus at some point during the epidemic. 

Stitt's announcement does not impact any COVID-19 restrictions, because Oklahoma doesn't currently have any restrictions in place. The governor lifted the state's few remaining restrictions in March.

Local mask ordinances will not be affected by Stitt rescinding his emergency order. 

The emergency declaration granted state agencies greater freedom to respond to the pandemic by hiring additional staff or shifting resources. The state of emergency also relaxed licensing restrictions to make it easier for medical professionals to return to the workforce. 

COVID data reporting changes

The emergency order also required COVID-19 testing labs, hospitals and some other facilities to send COVID-19 data to the state Health Department on a daily basis. Health officials said they’ll still be able to obtain that information without the emergency declaration. 

“We have been in discussions about that with the governor's office,” said Dr. Lance Frye, the state’s health commissioner. “It might require some emergency rules being put through that require these facilities to report to us. It certainly was easier — we didn’t have to do all those things with the emergency declaration, but we'll work through it and make sure that we get the information that we need.”

Frye said the governor’s decision to end the order wasn’t unexpected and came at a time when COVID-19 has declined to a more manageable level in the state.

“We hope we’re approaching our new normal that we’ve been working so hard for for so long,” he said. “We can’t take our foot off the gas this early, though. There’s still a lot of work to be done.” 

The agency also will change some data tracking and reporting moving forward.

Derek Pate, director of the state Health Department’s Center for Health Statistics, said the state will stop releasing weeknight executive order reports, which included data on hospitalizations and COVID-19 tests. 

Some of that data will feed into the state’s situation update, released weekdays at 11 a.m. The situation updates will continue and include a daily count of new COVID-19 cases, a seven-day case average, and the number of people currently hospitalized and in intensive-care units with COVID, Pate said. 

“If needed, we'll also look at reporting the positivity (rate) and positive and negative test results,” he said. 

The state also will stop updating and eventually remove its hospital bed and personal protective equipment dashboard.

The state’s weekly epidemiology reports will continue, though the state plans to remove cumulative antibody test positivity from those reports. 

The state also will likely stop publishing the hospital surge tier map and may make changes to the state’s alert map, which includes county-level COVID-19 risk information, Pate said.

State epidemiologist Jolianne Stone said in a statement that the Health Department was still committed to providing COVID-19 data publicly and will alert Oklahomans "if areas of concern begin to arise again.”

More:Oklahoma investing $14 million in summer learning to recover from disruption of pandemic

Open Meeting, SNAP benefit changes

The emergency order also required COVID-19 testing labs, hospitals and some other facilities to send COVID-19 data to the state Health Department on a daily basis. The agency will change some data tracking and reporting moving forward. 

The expiration of the emergency declaration also triggers a 30-day countdown for government and public bodies to resume meeting in-person. A law Stitt signed earlier this year allowed public boards and commissions to meet virtually until 30 days after the emergency declaration expired. 

State lawmakers, however, are working on permanent changes to the state's Open Meeting Act that would allow for more virtual meeting options.

The end of the emergency declaration also means households receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits could see some changes in the coming months.

At the start of the pandemic, the federal government authorized states to increase monthly SNAP benefits based on household size so long as the both the federal and state government had an emergency declaration in effect. 

Those additional benefits now will end July 1. An additional $26 benefit paid out per person each month, as approved in the American Rescue Plan, will continue through September, according to the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. 

Contributing: Staff writer Dana Branham