Monroe County mayor is in quarantine days after county commissioner dies from COVID complications
Monroe County Mayor Michelle Coldiron said Wednesday she is in quarantine because she found out she was exposed to someone with COVID-19 on Sunday.
Coldiron confirmed the news to the Miami Herald in a text Wednesday morning.
“I was exposed on Sunday afternoon. I am following the guidelines of [the Department of Health] and in quarantine,” she said. “On Friday, I will have a PCR test.”
Coldiron was referring to a polymerase chain reaction test. It detects the presence of viral RNA that will be detectable before COVID antibodies or symptoms are present, according to the Medical Device Network.
Coldiron said she received the two-dose Moderna vaccine and is following recommendations from the Florida Department of Health to be on the safe side.
She said a PCR test she had on Tuesday came back negative and that she has not had any symptoms.
“I feel fine,” she said in a text. ‘”I am following the advice from DOH and in a quarantine in an abundance of caution as I would not want to spread it to my colleagues or staff or friends or anyone for that matter!”
The news comes just two days after Monroe County Commissioner Mike Forster died from COVID-19 complications. Forster, 61, was vaccinated with the Johnson & Johnson jab, his family and friends say.
Coldiron, who was elected to the District 2 seat on the commission in 2018, said she will attend Wednesday’s budget hearing via Zoom.
“For the remainder of this week, I have canceled my in-person meetings and will get extra rest and hydrate to be on the safe side,” she said.
Forster was the second person on the five-member commission to be hospitalized with COVID-19.
Last year, Commissioner Craig Cates, of Key West, contracted COVID-19 and was hospitalized. His wife and his daughter were hospitalized at the same time. Both died.
“Please get vaccinated so your family doesn’t suffer the losses my family and I have been through,” Cates said in a video released by the county last month. “The only way out of this pandemic is vaccination.”
This story was originally published September 8, 2021 at 11:54 AM with the headline "Monroe County mayor is in quarantine days after county commissioner dies from COVID complications."
