Kentucky senator hospitalized with COVID-19
Veteran Democratic state Sen. Gerald Neal of Louisville is in the hospital with COVID-19.
Neal, who turns 75 Sept. 22, is at least the third Kentucky lawmaker to test positive for the virus.
Senate Democratic Leaders said in a statement Tuesday that Neal admitted himself to the hospital after experiencing mild symptoms of COVID-19 and received the prognosis late Monday evening.
“Sen. Neal is a champion and fighter for his community in the state legislature,” said his colleagues. “He’s already calling people from the hospital talking about bills for the next session and organizing meetings he still plans to attend virtually.”
The Senate Democratic leaders said they ”fully expect Sen. Neal to overcome this and return to the Senate to continue fighting for the constituents of District 33 and the entire commonwealth.”
Gov. Andy Beshear said late Tuesday that he had talked to Neal and that the lawmaker had given him about 10 pieces of advice.
Neal, an attorney, has represented the Jefferson County district since 1989.
State Rep. Attica Scott, D-Louisville, said on Twitter Sunday that she has tested positive for COVID-19.
“I am going adhere to health department guidelines and I am self-quarantining for the next 14 days until I get tested again,” said Scott, who joined the House in 2017.
Sen. Max Wise, R-Campbellsville, said in late July that he had ended a quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19 with mild symptoms.
On July 20, Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, and House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect, “strongly encouraged” state lawmakers to practice social distancing at all times and to wear a mask or cloth face covering when on the Capitol and Capitol Annex grounds.
The policy included attending committee meetings but some legislators have not always followed it.
As of Monday, Kentucky has seen 53,064 total COVID-19 cases with 996 deaths since the pandemic began in March.
Jefferson County, the state’s most populous county, has reported 12,960 cases of the virus and 274 deaths.
Four employees with the state Legislative Research Commission have tested positive for COVID-19, said LRC spkesman Rob Weber.
He said they quarantined themselves in accordance with guidance from health officials and no LRC employee currently is under quarantine. The agency that assists state lawmakers has 388 employees.
“The LRC is following recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and local health officials regarding COVID-19,” Weber said.
“When we get a report that an employee has tested positive, we alert others whom the employee may have been in contact with at work so they can self-monitor for symptoms. We also conduct a careful cleaning of the employee’s work area.”
LRC staff policy doesn’t apply to legislators but they are urged to follow health officials’ recommendations, said Weber.
This story was originally published September 8, 2020 at 1:02 PM.
