State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, whose district includes part of Sandy Springs, has the COVID-19 coronavirus disease.
The East Cobb Republican revealed her diagnosis in a March 20 Facebook post. She said she is in self-quarantine and is “recovering without complications.”
Kirkpatrick was among many legislators who were in self-isolation due to state Sen. Brandon Beach (R-Alpharetta) attending a session while sick with COVID-19. She told the Reporter on March 19 that she was “staying at home as much as possible, as everybody should be.” But she did not mention that already had a fever starting March 15, according to her Facebook post, and had been tested for COVID-19. The result came back positive March 20, she said.
Kirkpatrick is a physician — she worked as an orthopedic surgeon — and said she immediately self-quarantined “with COMPLETE isolation” after developing the fever.
“I have followed the strict protocol recommended by DPH [the Georgia Department of Public Health] and am comfortable that I have not put anyone at risk,” she wrote.
She and husband Thomas, who is an emergency physician, will be quarantined for another week, she said.
“Fortunately it is a great time to be on my back porch,” she wrote. “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.”
She was referring to the assumption that people who have recovered from the virus are then immune to further infection with it, as with many similar illnesses, though the World Health Organization says that is not confirmed yet.