Wichita mayor, City Council members no longer need to self-quarantine
Update Thursday:
The Sedgwick County Health Department determined the elected officials no longer need to self-quarantine, according to a Thursday news release.
The release says: “(t)hey are advised to self-monitor for two weeks until March 23 to check for symptoms such as fevers greater than 100.4 F and respiratory symptoms. If they develop symptoms they must stay home and contact their PCP (professional care provider).”
The officials self-quarantined after two people tested positive for COVID-19 at a national conference they attended in Washington, D.C. The Wichita officials didn’t show symptoms after their return, but self-quarantined as a precaution.
Sedgwick County has no confirmed cases of the virus.
Original Wednesday:
Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple and three City Council members have placed themselves in self-quarantine for the coronavirus after learning that two people at a national conference for city leaders they attended last week have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.
Whipple said he feels fine, but decided to work from home “out of an abundance of caution” for now after the National League of Cities informed conference attendees that the two people there had the virus.
Council members Becky Tuttle, James Clendenin and Brandon Johnson also attended the conference.
They confirmed they’re also self quarantining.
The city officials said they’re awaiting further advice from the Sedgwick County health director before deciding whether it’s safe to return to City Hall.
“We’re all doing it,” Tuttle said.
Added Clendenin: “We’re definitely not going to be silent about this. We want everyone to know we’re being responsible and doing the right thing.”
Johnson said he had to cancel some meetings on other city issues and is trying to work out how to get those done remotely. “I don’t have a Skype account, so I have to figure out all of that stuff on my end,” he said.
He said he had earlier cleared part of his schedule to hang out with his children over spring break, before Gov. Laura Kelly announced Tuesday that she is closing all school buildings for the rest of the school year.
“Next week is going to be different — and definitely while parents are trying to figure out what school looks like going forward through May,” he said.
Whipple led Tuesday’s meeting of the Wichita City Council but had already canceled non-official public appearances.
“We have no idea if we happened to interact with one of those two (coronavirus-infected) people or not” at the NLC conference, Whipple said.
In a written statement dated Tuesday, the NLC confirmed the cases and said both persons were “ active participants in the conference—attending general sessions and workshops.”
“While we are not able to officially determine how and when these individuals contracted the virus, nor are we permitted under privacy laws to disclose the names of individuals, we wanted to alert you immediately on the potential exposure risk,” the statement said. “At this time, these are the only two known confirmed cases.”
The statement said the conferees were under the care of medical professionals and “recovering at home and feeling better.”
The conference in Washington D.C. technically ran from March 8-11. Wichita members schedules varied because they also took time away from the conference to meet with members of the Kansas congressional delegation.
A statement issued Wednesday by City Hall said council members Cindy Claycomb and Bryan Frye, and City Manager Robert Layton were also in Washington last week, but did not attend the NLC conference.
Council member Jeff Blubaugh did not travel last week, the statement said.
This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 9:43 AM.
