Madison Alder Arvina Martin has tested positive for COVID-19, she announced in a Facebook post and confirmed in an interview Thursday night.
She feels “pretty lousy,” she said, even though she believes her case is a relatively mild one.
“My head hurts constantly and I have been coughing and,stuffed up runny nose and I just ache everywhere and I’m exhausted,” she said in a phone interview Thursday evening.
Martin, the first Indigenous Person elected to the Madison Common Council, said she started feeling run down with a “scratchy throat” a few days ago, but attributed that to working long hours as the Native Outreach Director for the Biden campaign in Wisconsin, but decided to get tested on Tuesday and got her positive results on Wednesday.
She is isolating at home, she said, where she lives with her mother and daughter, who are both awaiting test results.
Martin said she hasn’t had any recent contact with any other alders or city officials. She’s also not sure where she could have become infected.
“I don’t leave the house a whole lot,” she said. “I live with my mother, who is older, and my daughter. I try to take precautions and then apparently even if you take precautions, it can still happen.”
Martin said she has put an “away” message on her city email address. The next scheduled Common Council meeting is November 10, the first of three consecutive nights of budget deliberations.
Martin said she hopes people understand coronavirus is real and precautions need to be taken.
“We have to keep doing the things to protect ourselves. Wearing a mask when you’re outside of your house or running errands and making sure you’re washing your hands all the time,” she said. “You know, it’s real, regardless of what some people might believe … All these safeguards can help prevent, but nothing’s going to be 100%. So, just take the precautions that you can while we have so many people getting sick every day.”
This story has been updated to reflect the correct timeline of Martin’s positive test and results. A previous version incorrectly stated she had been tested Wednesday and gotten results Thursday.
