A member of Gov. John Bel Edwards staff tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday evening, according to a tweet from Edwards’ office.
The staffer, who has not yet been identified, is in isolation and did not have close contact with the governor. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines “close contact” as within 6 feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period starting from two days before illness onset.
One other staff member who was deemed to have had close contact with the staffer is quarantining for 14 days.
Members of the governor’s staff have tested positive for COVID-19 multiple occasions since the state’s coronavirus outbreak began earlier this year.
Last month, one staff member tested positive for COVID-19 and two additional staffers quarantined for 14 days.
In July, a member of Edwards’ press office tested positive for COVID-19, prompting 12 other staffers to quarantine.
In March, April Dunn, a staff member of the Governor's Office of Disability Affairs, died of complications from COVID-19.