May 5, 2020
By News Director Jared Atha
Jackson County has surpassed Greer County with active cases of COVID-19.
According to the Oklahoma State Department of Health Jackson County now has 5 active cases, while Greer County has 4. Custer County’s lone case has recovered, leaving the county with no active cases as of Tuesday morning. Beckham County still has 3 active cases while Kiowa County has 2.
Harmon, Washita, and Roger Mills are just three of the six remaining counties in Oklahoma that are still without a confirmed case.
Statewide the number of active cases has dropped. Currently there are 1,050 active cases of COVID-19 in Oklahoma, that is a decrease of 74 active cases when compared to Monday.
Oklahoma has had an additional 9 deaths due to COVID-19, 2 occurred in the past 24 hours, bringing the state’s total to 247.
The number of hospitalizations due to the virus remained at 236.
At least 116 employees at an Oklahoma pork processing plant in Guymon have tested positive for coronavirus, a Seaboard Foods spokesman said in a statement Monday.
The plant has about 2,700 employees. Texas County, where Guymon is located, has 252 confirmed virus cases and three deaths, according to the state Health Department.
A plant spokesman said about 30% of the plant’s employees do not live in Texas County, a Health Department spokeswoman said all cases and deaths would be attributed to an infected person’s county or state of residence.
The Seaboard plant has not closed, as some around the nation have been ordered to stay open under an executive order from President Donald Trump.
The number of virus infections is thought to be far higher than confirmed because many people haven’t been tested and studies suggest people can have the disease without showing symptoms.
The vast majority of those infected recover.
