State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick tests positive for Coronavirus

State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick

State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, a Republican from East Cobb, said Friday night she has tested positive for the Coronavirus.

In a Facebook posting, Kirkpatrick said she felt a fever last Saturday and said she immediately began self-quarantine in what she called “COMPLETE isolation.”

A retired orthopedic surgeon, Kirkpatrick said she called her doctor and is feeling fine, but took a test and the results came back positive.

“I have followed the strict protocol recommended by [Georgia] DPH and am comfortable that I have not put anyone at risk,” she said in her message, adding that she’s following the state health agency’s instructions to quarantine for another week.

“We will not be out and about until we have completed the protocol.”

Kirkpatrick is the third member of the Georgia Senate to have tested positive for Coronavirus, or COVID-19.

All 236 members of the Georgia legislature were ordered to self-isolate until March 30 after State Sen. Brandon Beach of North Fulton, who also had been screened for the virus over the weekend, attended Monday’s special legislative session called by Gov. Brian Kemp following his declaration of a statewide public health emergency.

More than 30 State House members and seven senators were absent from those proceedings due to self-quarantine.

Beach been criticized by colleagues and the governor for showing up for the session after his screening. He was awaiting the test results but said his doctor’s initial diagnosis was negative.

Kirkpatrick told her Facebook following that “although I am in the at-risk age group, I am blessed to be very healthy and thankful that I am recovering without complications. I will be happy to have immunity to this awful virus.”

Earlier on Friday, she said she and her staff were working from home, urged constituents to heed the advice of public health officials and provided the following information:

Georgia has a new hotline number for Covid-19 questions, 844-442-2681. There are some official websites that are useful as follows:

For health info:
CDC.gov and DPH.georgia.gov.
Governor’s office:
Gov.georgia.gov
Schools including meal info:
cobbk12.org and Fultonschools.org
Business:
Unemployment- dol.georgia.gov
SBA loans- sba.gov
Insurance:
OCI.ga.gov
Emergency needs:
MUSTministries.org
Unitedwayatlanta.org
Please continue social distancing, surface cleaning and hand washing. If you are sick, stay home!