Fresno elected official’s son has COVID-19. That means big changes at City Hall
Fresno City Council President Miguel Arias announced on Monday that his young son tested positive for COVID-19 and he is awaiting his own test results, prompting this week’s city council meeting to revert to online.
Arias was notified Friday evening that his son Diego, 8, tested positive after a visit to his pediatrician earlier in the week for coronavirus symptoms. Diego had a fever, body aches and headaches. Arias said he also was tested and expects to receive his results Tuesday.
Diego had not been inside City Hall since the pandemic arrived to Fresno, but because of Arias’ potential exposure the building was deeply cleaned over the weekend. Arias also notified everyone he’d recently seen in-person about the potential exposure. Arias canceled any in-person city business or travel until further notice.
Arias said he is confident his son will recover.
“It’s scary,” Arias said. “There’s nearly 4,500 families in the county that are wrestling with the same fear, stress and uncertainty over the impact of COVID.”
Fresno County Public Health instructed Diego to isolate and Arias to quarantine.
Other city operations were not impacted by the news since city officials have consistently taken precautions to protect employees, said city spokesman Mark Standriff. Plus, Mayor Lee Brand has been working from home with very few exceptions since early March.
“We wish Council President Arias’ son a speedy recovery with the hope that he and the rest of his family stays safe and healthy,” Standriff said.
Despite taking precautions such as wearing face masks and keeping his children home and away from public activities, Arias said he wrestled with guilt and anger that he may have infected his children.
“It’s one of those things where your immediate reaction is of guilt and anger that you might have infected an 8-year-old who has been home and has done nothing but watch Netflix all day,” he said. “It makes me wonder what public events we could have not attended and what meetings we could have canceled.
“People’s health has to be put ahead of any political or personal inconvenience,” he said.
Arias is using the experience to remind the public to take precautions such as wearing a mask.
“I think it’s important for the general public to understand that COVID is not just impacting front-line workers and the elderly in nursing homes. It’s impacting all of us,” he said. “I want to re-emphasize to people that we have a moral obligation to be personally responsible and take precautions and not politicize something as simple as wearing a mask.”
This story was originally published June 29, 2020 at 11:13 AM.