Oklahoma Hopes To Test Nearly 90,000 People

The state of Oklahoma is ramping up efforts to test more people as the state prepares to reopen some businesses on Friday.

The state has set a goal to test 2 percent of the population by the end of May, which is about 90,000 Oklahomans.

Governor Kevin Stitt said Thursday contact tracing and increased testing will be important as more businesses are allowed to open tomorrow.

The state currently has 80 drive thru testing locations throughout the state, and they want to make sure anybody who wants a test, even if they're not showing symptoms, can get one

The state department of health said right now, they have 150 staff members working on contact tracing, which means they work with positive patients to determine where they have been and who they have been around leading up to their diagnosis.

Over the next month, they will be adding 500 additional contact tracers, and training even more, with a goal of having more than 1,000 working for the state.

"As we test more people, we will still find new cases in Oklahoma,” said Stitt. “I want you to hear me, our infection rate is going down. Of all the people we've tested, just 5.67 percent are coming back with a positive test."

The state also announced a partnership today with Blue-Cross Blue-Shield to offer a caring van to take Oklahomans in underserved communities to testing sites.