Wichita mayor’s civil rights council may have been exposed to COVID-19 at City Hall

Members of a new council created to address racial and social injustice in Wichita may have been exposed to the coronavirus at City Hall, according to a notice sent by the city.

Someone at the first meeting of Wichita’s Council on Diversity, Inclusion and Civil Rights at City Hall on Thursday tested positive for COVID-19 after developing symptoms, Mayor Brandon Whipple said.

“This just goes to show that COVID is real,” Whipple said. “This was someone who was selected to be on the committee, they had no symptoms at the time, did everything right, and then later tested positive. Then this person immediately went above and beyond by contacting the city so we could take action right away.”

Whipple created the 25-member council in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, a Minneapolis man who died with a police officer’s knee on his neck. Video of Floyd’s death has been widely circulated and touched off protests across the nation.

In a notice email sent to attendees Monday morning, the city instructed those who attended the meeting to watch out for symptoms for the next 14 days, but said “the risk of exposure to others in the room would be considered low” by the Sedgwick County Health Department because “the individual sat properly socially distanced and did not have close contact interactions with others.”

Local and state health officials, who are responsible for contact tracing and notifying people who might have been exposed to the coronavirus, didn’t notify anyone who attended the Thursday meeting because it didn’t meet the state’s criteria, Whipple said.

“I wasn’t contacted by anyone at the county and, as far as I know, the city was not contacted by anyone at the state who does that contact tracing, and I guess the interaction with this meeting doesn’t qualify,” Whipple said. “But we want to go above and beyond and make sure that our community is safe.”

If not for the group member’s own initiative, Whipple said, attendees may have never known they had been in an auditorium with someone who had COVID-19. The Thursday meeting lasted 90 minutes.

About a dozen people, including Whipple, attended the meeting in person at City Hall while the rest attended by video-conference. Those who attended sat at least 6 feet apart. Although the city requires anyone entering to City Hall to wear a mask, many of the members took theirs off during the meeting and shared a microphone.

Whipple said he was contacted Sunday by the person who tested positive and that he hopes this can serve as a learning experience that doesn’t stigmatize people who contract COVID-19.

“This is our new reality,” Whipple said. “I think it was incredibly responsible for this person to let us know right away. You just never know. This thing is new to us, and we want to give people as much information as possible.”

Whipple said he will encourage group members to use Zoom and meet remotely for the next meeting, but an in-person option will likely still be available at City Hall.

So far, the fledgling Council on Diversity, Inclusion and Civil Rights is off to a rocky start.

Whipple shut down City Council debate and forced a vote on forming the civil rights council after two council members expressed misgivings about the group being formed so quickly without their input. The council eventually voted unanimously to approve its formation and his appointees.

Before the group’s first meeting, Whipple asked one of the appointees to resign for posting a series of racially-charged social media memes, essays and photos. The appointee, Allen Stoker, refused and showed up to the Thursday meeting.

Whipple said the latest obstacle shouldn’t be a setback for the group.

“We’ve had some rocky press, but we’re moving along with change,” he said. “We’re on the cusp of doing some huge stuff. Change isn’t easy, and we have some people at the table who are dedicated to making positive change.”

Whipple, who was tested for COVID-19 Tuesday morning, said anyone who attended should call 2-1-1 and get free testing by the Sedgwick County Health Department.

Contributing: Dion Lefler of The Wichita Eagle

This story was originally published June 23, 2020 at 1:13 PM.