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Dire Rankings For Oklahoma In Final White House Coronavius Task Force Report

Provided
White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx (left) talks with Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt in Tulsa in August 2020.

The Trump Administration released its final coronavirus task force document this week. It shows that Oklahoma remains in the top five ranking of two outbreak severity indicators.

The Trump Administration’s Coronavirus Task Force began releasing weekly documents to states in June 2020. They soon became controversial.

Many governors, including Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, chose not to publish the data and recommendations from the White House. Eventually, the Stitt administration did release them, but made several remarks doubting their accuracy and helpfulness.

In early December, the Task Force stopped sending states the recommendations, unless they were requested. The Stitt administration chose not to request them.

The final report by the Trump Administration — which the Center for Public Integrity obtained Wednesday — ranked Oklahoma worst in the nation for test positivity rate, third worst for new cases per 100,000 people and fifth worst for its rate of coronavirus hospitalizations.

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Catherine Sweeney was StateImpact Oklahoma's health reporter from 2020 to 2023.
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