The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Carfora said he has tested positive for COVID-19
EAST HAVEN — East Haven Mayor Joe Carfora said Saturday that he has tested positive for COVID-19.
The mayor issued a statement to the community sharing his medical condition.
“Late Thursday, I was informed that I have tested positive for COVID-19. Initially, my symptoms were mild allergy-type signs, which led me to get tested; they have further developed into flu-like symptoms,” Carfora wrote.
He said he told the health department that covers Branford, East Haven and North Branford for contact tracing, to notify people he had been in contact with in recent days.
The mayor said he was showing symptoms. “I feel a bit under the weather with now-general, flu-like symptoms; I will remain home where I will work remotely,” he wrote in his statement.
The mayor said he had no idea where he might have contracted the coronavirus.
“My situation should be used as an example,” he wrote, “As your mayor I am required to be out, and to meet with people on a regular basis. While that is the case, we certainly have cut back on in-person meetings and direct contact as much as humanly possible. But even in the new COVID-19 reality, there are simply some responsibilities that cannot not take place virtually in the day-to-day running of our community. With that being said, we have undertaken extensive safety measures in Town Hall and throughout our departments. Even taking these precautions, I cannot say that I have been perfect about wearing a mask, nor can I say that I have sanitized my hands each and every time I enter or leave a room. Like all of you, I work hard to do my very best, but that, in so many instances is simply not enough. This virus is unnervingly random, so I, like so many others, have no idea where, when, or how I contracted it.”
Carfora used his diagnosis as a warning for local residents to maintain their guard against viral infection.
“So please know that even with the best plan, and the greatest of intention, the COVID-19 virus is extremely dangerous. Use face coverings, personal hygiene matters, and if you have any questions at all, please refer to the East Shore Health District and/or CDC guidelines. Stay safe and may God protect our first responders as well as each and every one of you. I will keep you updated,” he wrote.
The mayor’s father, Al Carfora Jr., 88, also fought COVID-19 this spring.
The mayor, 58, is the owner of a company in the trucking business. A Democrat, he took office last November.
A town worker tested positive for the coronavirus earlier this month. A number of public officials around the state have tested positive for the coronavirus Waterbury Mayor Neil O'Leary was exposed to the virus, as was Derby Mayor Richard Dziekan.
U.S. Reps. Joe Courtney, D-2, and Jahana Hayes, D-5, reported relatively mild symptoms associated with the coronavirus.