Juneau mayor contracted COVID-19 and has recovered, city says

Juneau Mayor Beth Weldon has recovered from COVID-19, which she contracted after traveling out of state, the city announced Monday night.

Weldon was on a 14-day home quarantine after returning on May 18 from a trip to the Lower 48 when she started to feel sick, the city and borough of Juneau said in a news release.

“I was fatigued and I felt like I was coming down with a cold – a tickling in my nasal passage and a little irritation in my lungs,” the mayor said in the release.

Weldon took a test for COVID-19 on May 26, the city said, and the positive result was returned on May 27. Juneau Public Health Nursing determined Weldon’s case was travel-related, the city said.

According to the city, Weldon was traveling out of state to help a family member. During quarantine, she was performing her duties as mayor via phone or internet.

The city reported Weldon’s positive result as Juneau’s 32nd case of COVID-19 in a May 28 news release, but the release did not identify Weldon as the Juneau resident with the virus at the time.

In an email, Weldon said she did not publicly disclose that she tested positive for COVID-19 until Monday because she did not want to worry members of her family, including her elderly parents.

The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services determined that Weldon had recovered late last week, according to the city. Weldon decided to share her experience after consulting with Dr. Anne Zink, the state’s chief medical officer, the news release said.

Weldon said she believes her case was “fairly mild,” and describes having fatigue, but said she never had a fever.

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