Health officials said Friday that Tulsa has its first confirmed case of the coronavirus – a 50-year-old man who recently traveled to Italy. The Tulsa man is recovering at home and is isolated with his family.

Gov. Kevin Stitt held a press conference to update the status of the state’s preparations to combat the coronavirus, which originated in China.

The risk in Oklahoma is low, said Stitt.

“With this being said, the state is taking this global epidemic seriously and is well positioned to monitor the developing situation, deploy assets as needed, and protect the public health and safety of Oklahomans,” Stitt said.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health confirmed on March 5 that seven people have been tested and only one has been confirmed so far.” We are continuing to test individuals who either have symptoms or who recently travelled from one of the affected areas of the globe where the virus is spreading,” said Gary Cox, OSDH Commissioner of Health.

The OSDH is working on a program of prevention, protection, testing and containment with public and private health organizations, schools, businesses and faith-based organizations.

“I’m continuing to monitor the situation and am in contact with health officials at the local and federal levels,” said U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Oklahoma. “We are the world’s leaders in medical innovation, I have no doubt that we will overcome the coronavirus threat and continue to set the pace for international progress. We all must work together to prevent the spread of coronavirus, helping our neighbors by washing our hands, refraining from shaking hands or touching others, and staying away from crowded areas. Oklahomans are tough, our community has faced situations more severe than this and we came out stronger on the other end.”

With the approach of Spring Break, OSDH encourages travelers to be proactive in checking the COVID-19 status of their international destination.  Returning from countries with a Level 2 or Level 3 status may require a home quarantine of two weeks. There are no travel restrictions within the United States.

For information, visit ok.gov/health or www.cdc.gov/COVID-19.