COVID-19 strikes Volusia Sheriff: ‘Anyone can catch this’

The number of Florida politicians and elected officials catching a case of COVID-19 continues to grow, with a Central Florida Sheriff the latest to test positive.

Sheriff Mike Chitwood of Volusia County reported Friday he was among the most recent positive tests for the novel coronavirus.

But how he got it remains unknown.

“I have no idea how I contracted this and that is a lesson in itself: Anyone can catch this,” Chitwood said on Twitter.

“My symptoms are on the mild side, but per my doctor’s orders, I must self-quarantine for 14 days & no face-to-face contact with anyone. If there is a bright side, I am allowed to exercise outdoors, just not with other people,” Chitwood added.

Volusia County continues to be a hotspot, with positive testing rates still over 10%.

Chitwood made news a few weeks back as a whistleblower, taking issue with the embattled Florida Department of Health for an “unconscionable and cowardly” decision to withhold information about addresses being tracked for COVID-19.

The Sheriff, who aligns with Gov. Ron DeSantis generally, blasted the state’s decision as potentially perilous to first responders.

“If we get these addresses, we can flag them in our system so when first responders get dispatched, for 123 Main Street for a domestic disturbance. If it’s related to COVID-19 the dispatch will advise ‘CODE 19’ and they can put their protective equipment on,” Chitwood said at the time.

The Sheriff joins a number of prominent politicians in the region who have contracted COVID-19.

Sen. Rob Bradley, a Republican from Fleming Island who chaired the Appropriations Committee in recent legislative sessions, revealed his positive diagnosis earlier this week.

Like Chitwood, Bradley does not know where he got the virus. The Senator woke up early Wednesday morning with a fever and tested positive hours later, with symptoms on the mild side.

Other regional politicians who have contracted the disease have not been so lucky.

St. Johns County Commissioner Paul Waldron contracted the virus weeks back and is still battling to recover.