Atlanta Fire Rescue Department Chief Randall Slaughter is in quarantine pending the results of a COVID-19 test following Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ announcement that she has tested positive.
Slaughter, among the city officials who appeared with Bottoms during a Sunday news conference, was tested for the coronavirus “out of an abundance of caution,” Atlanta Fire and Rescue spokesman Sgt. Cortez Stafford said Tuesday. “He will be in quarantine until his results return and will move forward based on those results.”
Bottoms announced her diagnosis in a Monday social media message.
“COVID-19 has literally hit home,” she wrote. “I have had NO symptoms and have tested positive.”
She wore a mask Sunday but removed it to make lengthy remarks about Secoriea Turner’s shooting death. The 8-year-old died Saturday near the destroyed Wendy’s that had been occupied by armed demonstrators in the aftermath of Rayshard Brooks’ fatal shooting. Two police officers, once since fired, face charges in Brooks’ death.
The restaurants’ torched ruins had become a shrine to Brooks but authorities cleared the site after Secoriea’s death.
“Following the death of Rayshard Brooks, there have been a number of protests in the area, and there has been a problem with protesters closing the streets off, “Bottoms said Sunday. “We’re not having any more discussions. It’s over. If you are looking to be a part of a solution and not a problem, then you’re going to have to clear out of that area.”
A number of city officials, including Interim Police Chief Rodney Bryant, City Council members Cleta Winslow, Carla Smith and Joyce Sheperd, City Attorney Nina Hickson and Bottoms’ spokesman, Michael Smith, and Chief of Staff Carmen Chubb attended the Sunday news conference. Members of Turner’s family did as well.
Secoriey Williamson, the slain child’s father, said a representative from Bottom’s office called to let him know her diagnosis and provided a list of testing sites but no specific guidelines for social distancing or quarantining.
“I had a mask,” Williamson said. “I wasn’t close to (Bottoms) and I didn’t hug her.”
Secoriea’s mother, Charmaine Turner, also attended the news conference. She was seated in front of Bottoms.
A news conference scenario can be low-risk if proper precautions are taken, according to Emory University infectious disease expert Dr. Marybeth Sexton. She said it was unlikely most attendees of the mayor’s news conference were exposed as long as they were wearing masks.
Others spoke from the same microphone Bottoms used Sunday, but the contamination risk is slight, Sexton said.
“Transmission from surface contamination is thought to be rare,” Sexton said. “You would have to put your hand on the microphone and then in your mouth.”
Bottoms said during an MSNBC appearance that she and her family have been diligent about washing their hands and wearing masks.
“I have no idea when and where we were exposed,” she said.
Slaughter, the fire chief, has been tested before.
“As of approximately two to three weeks ago, all of our members were required to get tested for COVID 19,” Stafford said. “As first responders and EMTs, we have a responsibility to respond and to act. Proper PPE (personal protective equipment) practices and precautions are and have been taken since this pandemic broke to minimize the risk to the public and to our firefighters.”
The fire department, Stafford added, “wishes a full recovery of Mayor Bottoms and for sustained health of her family.”
- AJC reporters Nedra Rhone and Scott Trubey contributed to this article.
Savannah mayor’s test negative for COVID-19 after exposure to virus
Savannah Mayor Van Johnson has tested negative for COVID-19 after a City Hall worker recently tested positive for the illness.
According to media reports, the employee has only been identified as someone who works in close proximity to the mayor, whose city became Georgia’s first municipality to require protective face masks at all public spaces.
Johnson first proposed mandatory protective masks in all public spaces during an emergency City Council meeting in late June. The meeting was called after an increase in coronavirus cases in Chatham County as the summer tourist season moved into full swing.
Athens is set to consider a similar measure Tuesday.
Written by Tim Darnell of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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