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Oklahoma Governor Tests Positive for COVID-19, Won’t Require Masks in Public

HeadlineJul 16, 2020

In Oklahoma, Republican Governor Kevin Stitt has become the first U.S. governor to test positive for coronavirus. Speaking from self-isolation Wednesday, Governor Stitt continued to resist making masks mandatory for Oklahomans.

Gov. Kevin Stitt: “Not thinking about a mask mandate at all. … We want to give businesses the freedom. I know that some businesses are mandating masks, and that’s great. But you can’t pick and choose what freedoms you’re going to give people.”

Governor Stitt was photographed wearing no mask as he welcomed President Trump to a campaign rally in Tulsa on June 20. So was former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, an African American cancer survivor over the age of 70 who contracted COVID-19 after Trump’s rally and has been hospitalized for weeks. Meanwhile, Walmart said Wednesday all its U.S. customers will be required to wear masks beginning July 20. 

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