Cole County commissioner positive for COVID-19

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Cole County Eastern District Commissioner Jeff Hoelscher has COVID-19.

Hoelscher told ABC 17 News on Wednesday that he was tested Saturday after experiencing mild symptoms. He is now isolating at home and said his symptoms include headache and fatigue.

"So that’s probably the hardest part is the inconvenience of staying at home and being locked up by yourself but you do what you got to do to protect others,” Hoelscher said.

Hoelscher is one of 3,990 people in Cole County who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus since the pandemic began. The county, like much of Missouri and the United States, is experiencing a surge in cases, reporting 847 this month alone.

The Cole County Health Department reported 539 active cases Wednesday. Many of the county's cases have been inside prisons -- 111 inmates and 36 workers at Jefferson City Correctional Center have active cases, according to the Department of Corrections. At Algoa, 42 inmates and 17 workers have active coronavirus cases.

Cole County and Jefferson City are also in the White House's "red zone" because of a high rate of new cases. The county has reported 23 deaths in people with COVID-19.

Hoelscher said the Cole County Commission is not considering a mask mandate despite the high case numbers. The commission voted this week to send masks and hand sanitizer to every home in the county.

"I am perfectly fine with everybody using masks that want to use them," Hoelscher said. "I’m just not comfortable with a mandate because I don’t feel like it fits across the whole county, so I think every business, every organization that has something they just need to take it upon themselves to figure out how they want to address it."