Fresno County Supervisor Steve Brandau has tested positive for COVID-19.
The District 2 supervisor told GV Wire that he exposed Supervisors Nathan Magsig, Buddy Mendes and Brian Pacheco at Tuesday’s board meeting, as well as County Administrative Officer Jean Rousseau and other staff.
Brandau did not know where or how he contracted coronavirus.
“I don’t feel guilty,” Brandau told GV Wire. “I feel bad that it’s happened. But it’s like one of my colleagues said to me – I called all three of my colleagues who were at that meeting personally – and one of them told me it could have been any one of us,” says Brandau. “And that’s that’s really the way I feel. And so I don’t feel guilty. I feel bad that it’s happened to all of us.”
Because of Brandau’s positive COVID-19 case, Fresno County announced Friday that the Board of Supervisors, Clerk of the Board and Administrative Offices have been temporarily closed.
All staff have been directed to quarantine, and the county said the closures are out of an abundance of caution.
“Upon learning of the positive test, we took quick and appropriate action per our safety protocols to close our offices and send staff home to protect against any potential spread of the virus,” said Rousseau in a statement Friday.
“We believe the risk to be minimal thanks to health and temperature screenings and mask requirements that are in place, however our top priority is always to protect the health and safety of our staff and those whom we serve, and these actions are the right thing to do.”
The county said all services that are provided by the closed offices are still available by remote means as the staff works through teleworking.
Brandau told GV Wire that he experienced mild symptoms Tuesday, such as a scratchy throat.
“Unfortunately by myself not knowing that I had COVID-19, I exposed a lot of other people,” Brandau told GV Wire.
The Fresno County Department of Public Health has begun the contact tracing process to determine who Brandau could have exposed.
