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COVID-19 exposure concerns in Detroit after Sen. Barrett's visit

Published  August 4, 2020 5:37pm EDT
Coronavirus in Michigan
FOX 2 Detroit

(FOX 2) - Contact tracing has begun in Detroit after a senator's visit there last week who then later tested positive for COVID-19. 

State Senator Tom Barrett announced on Sunday that he had tested positive for the virus, prompting the cancellation of Senate sessions this week and concerns about who could have been exposed. 

Tracing COVID-19 exposure in Detroit after Sen. Barrett’s visit

Contact tracing has begun in Detroit after Sen. Tom Barrett's visit there last week, who then later tested positive for COVID-19.

"I took reasonable precautions. I wore a mask when I was out in public, out in my committee meetings and on the Senate floor," Barrett said Monday while addressing his diagnosis. "I think I took reasonable precautions like everybody else and, unfortunately, somehow out and about in my daily life I happened to pick this up from someone."

The concern of exposure, though, extends beyond Charlotte and Lansing and into Detroit.

Last week Sen. Adam Hollier posted photos of Sen. Barrett in Detroit in his district, with Barrett at Pershing High School and, according to the post, they also visited the Goodwill Industries Flip the Script program, the FOCUS: Hope food distribution program and the Neighborhood Service Organization's Bell Building.

Hollier, who says he's tested negative for the virus, posted that he secured more than $1.5 million in funding for the programs. But that visit has now brought other issues in the age of COVID-19.

A spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey tells FOX 2, "Senator Barrett did join Senator Hollier to visit locations in his district. The locations in question were notified of the senator's positive test result."

That spokesperson says no other senators have tested positive.

Barrett did meet with the principal at Pershing. The district says was notified of the test result by Barrett. The principal is now awaiting test results and in quarantine in the interim. Sen. Barrett did not come into contact with students or any other employees, according to the district.

As for any cases in Detroit related to his visit, the Detroit Health Department tells FOX 2, "If a Detroit resident is identified as a close contact of another resident in another county, the Detroit Health Department is notified. No such notification has taken place."