Former Lexington Mayor Gray in quarantine after friend tests positive; says he feels fine
Former Mayor Jim Gray is in self-quarantine after coming in contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus at an event in Louisville in early March
Gov. Andy Beshear announced Monday that Gray, who now leads the state Transportation Department, and another state employee have voluntarily self-quarantined. The other state official is Edith Halbleib, who is the executive director of the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority. Both are self-quarantining out of an abundance of caution, Beshear said.
“I’m feeling fine,” Gray told the Herald-Leader in an interview.
At the Speed Ball in Louisville on March 7, Gray had contact with a friend — who recently tested positive for COVID-19. Several of Kentucky’s high ranking politicians also attended the ball including Beshear, who tested negative for the coronavirus; U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, who did not come in direct contact with the person who tested positive; and U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Louisville, who is in self-quarantine.
Gray was called Saturday by the Louisville Health Department and informed of his contact with a patient who tested positive in Louisville. He was told that he should remain in self-quarantine until March 21, which would be 14 days since his contact.
Gray said he was showing no symptoms and will continue working from home while in quarantine. Gray said he won’t get tested unless he starts showing symptoms because he doesn’t want to take up the limited supply of tests.
“I’m modeling the behavior that the governor and the CDC has asked us to follow,” Gray said. “It’s really essential that we take this seriously.”
As of Monday, there were 21 cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky and one death, a 66-year-old Bourbon County man.
Gray, who served two terms as Lexington mayor before opting not to run for a third and final term in 2018, is now secretary of the Transportation Cabinet. Gray said no other transportation cabinet employees were at the Louisville event.
“I have discussed this with Governor Beshear and he has encouraged me to model the behavior that all our citizens to follow in order to contain the virus,” Gray said in a tweet. “As the governor has said many times over the last few days, we will get through this together.”
This story was originally published March 16, 2020 at 10:31 AM.
