Former SC governor tests positive for COVID-19
Former South Carolina governor David Beasley has tested positive for COVID-19, he announced Thursday night.
In a statement released through the World Food Programme, where he now serves as executive director, Beasley said he felt ill after returning home to Darlington, South Carolina, from a trip to Canada. He self-quarantined five days ago before testing positive.
“So far, my symptoms have been relatively light, and I am in good spirits. I am lucky to be close to my family and I have access to excellent medical support,” he said in the statement.
Beasley, 63, is not yet in the age group of 65 and over that is associated with the most serious risks from the virus, and he said he is doing relatively well given the diagnosis.
His announcement makes him one of more than 80 South Carolinians who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The total number of cases in the U.S. surpassed 10,000 on Thursday.
Beasley, who served as governor from 1995 to 1999, added that he and his team are working to contact anyone with whom he was in close contact before he knew he had the infection. He plans to continue fully overseeing WFP while working remotely.
“Like so many of you at WFP, I have had to change my pattern of work and join meetings remotely from my own home in South Carolina,” Beasley said. “It is my full intention to continue working and joining all of you virtually on a regular basis, throughout the period of self-isolation that I must now strictly observe.”
Following his one term as governor, Beasley ran for U.S. Senate in 2004 but lost. In 2017, he was nominated to run the World Food Programme by another former South Carolina governor, Nikki Haley, who then served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. The WFP provides food assistance to more than 86 million people around the world each year.
On Thursday, current Gov. Henry McMaster announced further steps to try to limit the spread and damage of COVID-19 around the state, including an order for all non-essential state employees to work from home and an expedited process for unemployment benefits.
This story was originally published March 19, 2020 at 7:18 PM.
