Virginia Beach council member tests positive for COVID-19

VIRGINIA BEACH — The Virginia Beach City Council canceled its Tuesday meeting after one member announced this week that he has COVID-19.

Councilman John Moss, 66, shared on Monday that he tested positive for COVID-19 late last week and is isolating at home. He is the first known council member in the region to announce he has the virus.

The only other known election official who has contracted COVID-19 in the region is Newport News School Board member John Eley, who was hospitalized over the summer.

Moss said he has not had inperson contact with any council members or city staff since the last council meeting on Sept. 22 at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. Council members Jim Wood, Rosemary Wilson, Jessica Abbott and Louis Jones did not attend that meeting.

No other council members have reported COVID-19 symptoms, Vice Mayor Wood said, but the Virginia Beach Health Department recommended the meeting be called off.

MayorBobbyDyer, 70, said Tuesday that, although the last council meeting was two weeks ago, he got tested for COVID-19 as a precaution. He said he learned of Moss’ diagnosis on Monday after Moss posted about it on Facebook.

Contact tracers from the state health department interviewed Dyer for 20 minutes Tuesday about his possible exposure, he said.

The city said in a press release that contact tracing has not yet concluded and “most of the people required to attend today’s meeting are advised to quarantine.” The last day of the 14-day quarantine period would be today.

Dyer said he was staying at home for the rest of the day Tuesday and would be back at City Hall on Wednesday.

Occupational Safety and Health staff and the Virginia Beach Health Department will facilitate COVID-19 testing for those impacted, the city said.

“We are canceling for the safety of our council and our employees,” Dyer said.

The workshop meeting was scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. followed by the formal meeting in City Council chambers. Planning items must be re-advertised before the council can consider them.

“Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to make the necessary notifications or technical arrangements for citizens to participate virtually, otherwise we might have been able to proceed with the meeting via video conference,” City Manager Patrick Duhaney said in a press release. “Because we are in a pandemic, the most responsible step for us to take is to ensure the health and safety of Council members, staff and citizens and that means delaying the items scheduled for today’s meeting and getting any necessary testing done.”