Mascoutah mayor and his wife quarantine at home after testing positive for COVID-19
Longtime Mascoutah Mayor Gerald “Jerry” Daugherty and his wife, Sylvia, have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Both are quarantined at home for two weeks.
“I’m doing OK,” Daugherty said in a phone interview Monday. “My cough’s better. My wife will feel better as soon as she gets off these antibiotics. Nausea is one of the side effects.”
Daugherty, 84, has served as mayor for nearly 22 years. He’s not sure how or where he got infected.
Daugherty has been reporting for work at Mascoutah City Hall almost every weekday. He attended a Mascoutah Rotary Club meeting on Oct. 15 and a Mascoutah City Council meeting on Oct. 19.
Daugherty said he goes few places unrelated to his mayoral duties. He and his wife often get groceries and other supplies by curbside pickup.
“I’m really safe with this stuff,” he said. “I wear a mask everywhere I go, including City Hall, and my wife is more careful than I am.”
Two city employees, City Manager Brad Myers and Assistant Manager Kari Speir, rode in a car with Daugherty to attend another meeting last week. Both were tested for COVID-19. Myers confirmed Monday that he had tested negative. Speir is still awaiting results.
Myers said he was relieved.
“As much as I like being at home, it’s hard to be a city manager at home,” he said.
The Daughertys’ coronavirus journey apparently started about a month ago, when Sylvia developed symptoms of a sinus infection, including drainage and a sore throat. She was prescribed an antibiotic and other medications, but they didn’t seem to help much.
Then last weekend, Jerry Daugherty started coughing and wheezing, he said. The couple’s regular doctor referred them to a respiratory clinic, where both got antibiotics and Daugherty got an inhaler on Thursday.
“(The doctor) said, ‘I don’t believe either of you have COVID, but if you want me to give you a test, I will,’” Daugherty said. “And I said, ‘Well, since I’m here, I might as well get one.’”
The couple received a call Saturday with positive test results and orders to begin a 14-day quarantine. It was a big surprise, Daugherty said.
“Neither of us had a temperature or breathing problems or anything like that,” he said.
The Daughertys’ positive test results were discussed Sunday during a COVID-19 video briefing on Facebook hosted by Herb Simmons, director of St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency.
Many Mascoutah residents have offered support through emails and phone calls, and some have brought food to the house, the mayor said.
“People are so good,” he said. “It’s amazing. It’s a shame you don’t hear all the good stories.”
Daugherty plans to keep busy answering emails, participating in Zoom meetings and taking care of other city business by telephone during his quarantine. The self-described “sports addict” also will be watching Big Ten football and working sudoku puzzles.
Daugherty spent 26 years in the U.S. Air Force and 14 years with Mercantile Bank in St. Louis before his first retirement. He was elected to Mascoutah City Council in 1997 and appointed to fill the unexpired term of the previous mayor two years later.
Local residents elected and reelected Daugherty to five terms, making him the longest-serving mayor in Mascoutah history, according to the Mascoutah Herald. He’s not running next year.
“At the end of April, I’ll have my 22 years in, and that’s it,” he said. “People have been asking me what I’m going to do, and I tell them, ‘Well, I might start a fourth career.’ I’ve been thinking about writing a book about all my years at City Hall. I could probably write one for each term.”
Daugherty and his wife have three children, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
This story was originally published October 27, 2020 at 7:00 AM.
