Fort Worth judge with positive coronavirus test says his symptoms have been mild
Tarrant County District Judge Brent Carr is spending his spring break fighting off COVID-19.
Carr, who oversees cases in County Criminal Court No. 9, said he hasn’t been in the courthouse since March 6, and that he likely contracted the coronavirus from a conference he attended in Miami earlier this month.
“It would basically be impossible for anyone at the courthouse to get it because of me,” he said. “I know people have been worried about that.”
Carr and his wife are practicing social distancing within their own home as he spends 14 days in self-isolation.
“I can still see her and talk to her through the door open,” he said, explaining that he watches TV in the bedroom now.
But he’s still busy working on some projects and teaching his class at Tarrant County College.
“I’m grading papers and now I have to teach myself how to do online classes because it seems that’s where everything is going now,” he said on Thursday.
Carr said he usually takes spring break off from work, and he traveled to Miami on March 10 for a conference about mental health. When he returned, he noticed a fever and a light headache.
“I looked at the list online and seemed to be able to check off all the symptoms,” he said. “I already had an appointment with my doctor so I went in.”
The test was much like a standard flu test. A long cotton swab was stuck up Carr’s nose, far back into his sinus cavity. A swab was taken from each nostril and the back of his throat.
“It’s a little uncomfortable but it only goes on for a few seconds, so it wasn’t unbearable,” he said.
He decided to self-quarantine and, two days later, he found out he was positive for COVID-19.
“My quarantine basically restarted then,” he said.
Carr considers himself fortunate.
“I’ve never had bad symptoms,” he said.
He’s even stopped taking over-the-counter medicines and Tylenol.
In two weeks, he’ll be tested again.
Despite being almost without symptoms and not experiencing any trouble breathing, Carr said it was important that he take precautions to not spread the virus.
“I even called the Miami-Dade Health Department to let them know that’s where my probable contact was,” he said. “I have no idea who it was.”
His concern now is his wife.
“I’m not coughing or sneezing, but we’re both in the over 60 age group, so the last thing I want is for her to have an illness,” he said. “Even though I haven’t had bad symptoms, it’s different for everyone. I know everyone seems to think this is the worst-case scenario, but a lot of people like me won’t need hospitalization.”
