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The Oklahoma State Department of Health released the COVID-19 alert map for the week on Wednesday and 71 of the 77 Oklahoma counties are in the orange, or moderate risk level for getting COVID-19. This includes Washington, Osage and Nowata County.

As school starts up this week, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt has not declared a State of Emergency due to the rise in COVID-19 cases. This means local officials have no say in being able to force a mask mandate. U.S. Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona recently sent a letter to Stitt criticizing that. His letter said in part:

“This State-level action against science-based strategies for preventing the spread of COVID-19 appears to restrict the development of local health and safety policies.”

These high case numbers being reported across each county are the most excessive being released since mid-February.