Bumgardner announces he tested positive for COVID-19 – News from southeastern Connecticut – theday.com

Groton Town Councilor Aundr Bumgardner, who recently won the Democratic mayoral primary in the City of Groton, has announced that he tested positive for COVID-19.

Bumgardner said he took a PCR test on Sunday after experiencing the onset of symptoms on Saturday evening and learned the results on Monday evening.

"I have contacted all those who I had contact with since March 18th (for more than 15 minutes, closer than 6 feet, or over a 24 hour period), as well as the Ledge Light Health District, which has advised me to isolate for the next 10 days," he wrote in a Facebook post on Monday. "I write this in the interest of full transparency, and while thinking about the millions of people impacted by COVID-19. Unfortunately, many aren't as lucky as I am to have a home, a supportive family, and friends checking in on me."

"I will remain active during isolation via phone and texts and my social media pages, even when I may not feel my best," added Bumgardner, who also serves on the city's Planning and Zoning Commission.

Bumgardner said by phone Tuesday that he does not have a fever, but has post-nasal drip and a sore throat, and he feels very fatigued and needs to take a pause to gather his breath after he finishes talking.

Bumgardner said it has been more than two weeks since the Democratic primary so he developed symptoms well after his primary campaign. He said while knocking on doors, he took "every precaution possible," including wearing gloves and a mask and only talking with people outside, not indoors.

While he is not sure exactly how he contracted the virus, he suspects it was by going out to eat. He said he rarely goes out to eat but he has eaten in restaurants a few times over the last few weeks. With the primary over, he said many people have been reaching out to discuss the city's future and offering a helping hand during the transition, so he is now in a position to meet one-on-one with people. He saidhe willforforeseeable future request remote meetings or phone conversations until the vast majority of people are vaccinated.

Bumgardner, 26, added thathe has not yet been vaccinated, but plans to do so when the vaccine is available to him.

As restaurants re-open and people frequent local eateries, he added thathis experiencegoes to show how critical it is to be respectful of surrounding patrons and maintain six feet of social distance and wash one's hands before and after eating.

In the interest of full transparency, he said he issuedthe public statement and notified everyone he was in contact withfor less than six feet andfor more than 15 minutes. He said most of the individuals have already taken a rapid test and are awaiting the results of a PCR test. He said no one has tested positive so far.

Bumgardner said he reached out to inform Ledge Light Health District of his positive result and participated in Ledge Light Heath District's contact tracing even before the district received the positive result from the state Department of Public Health.

Bumgardner said theTown Councilhad an outdoor meetingon Saturday morning in Mystic a coastal access tour with everyone maintaining social distancing and he had no symptomswhatsoever. He thenwent Saturday afternoon on a door-to door listening tourin Groton Cityin advance of the Maygeneralelection, but after the fifth door, he felt very fatigued and decided to go home.

Bumgardner won the March 8 Democratic primary and the City of GrotonDemocratic Committee has endorsed candidates for City Council and City Clerk for the May 3 general election. The City of Groton Republican Committee did not put forward a slate of candidates.

Henoted thatthe Town of Groton is beginning its budget season this week and he plans to continue to participate in meetings remotely and be available by phone, email and social media while isolating. He said he looks forward tohitting the campaign trailagain once he has recuperated.

He said he is grateful for the outpouring of support he has received.

"This virus has impacted millions of individuals, and I'm very lucky that I have a supportive family and supportive friends and certainly resources to fully recuperate," he said.

"It has been a year since this virus caused havoc to our community and it just goes to show that despite the fact that a lot of folks are now vaccinated and we're restoring to some semblance of everyday life, it is critical that we don't let our guards down," he added. "We are so close to getting out of the woods with this virus."

k.drelich@theday.com

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Bumgardner announces he tested positive for COVID-19 - News from southeastern Connecticut - theday.com