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Governor Bill Lee Quarantines After Security Gets COVID-19

Sergio Martínez-Beltrán / WPLN News (File)

 

*Update: First lady Maria Lee tweeted Wednesday evening that she had tested negative for the virus and that she and the governor would quarantine for 14 days.  

Gov. Bill Lee is going into quarantine after a member of his security detail tested positive for COVID-19.

Lee says he learned of the potential exposure Wednesday morning. He’s canceled all in-person events and will work from home, along with the state’s first lady. But the governor says neither has any symptoms.

“Maria and I are feeling fine,” Lee said in an online press conference from his home Wednesday afternoon. “We’ve received a lot of messages from a lot of folks. You know, we are not sick and hope that we don’t become that way.”

Lee says the staffer tested positive for the virus Wednesday morning after becoming sick. The governor’s last exposure to the security detail was Tuesday. He says his own test on Wednesday was negative.

How long Lee will be in quarantine hasn’t been determined, but he says he doesn’t anticipate having to hand off any responsibilities.

The announcement came shortly after the first lady had appeared at an elementary school in Manchester. Lee says he learned of the potential exposure after she’d gone to the school and will begin her quarantine immediately after returning. She is still awaiting test results.

This story was reported by WPLN. 

Chas joined WPLN in 2015 after eight years with The Tennessean, including more than five years as the newspaper's statehouse reporter.Chas has also covered communities, politics and business in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. Chas grew up in South Carolina and attended Columbia University in New York, where he studied economics and journalism. Outside of work, he's a dedicated distance runner, having completed a dozen marathons