Santa Rosa Sheriff Bob Johnson Positive For COVID-19 After Attending Sheriff’s Conference

August 5, 2020

Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson confirmed Wednesday that  has tested positive for COVID-19.

Johnson attended the annual Florida Sheriffs Association Conference in Bonita Springs last week. At least five people that attended have also tested positive.

“Sheriff Johnson did attend the Sheriff’s Conference. During the conference, Sheriff Johnson followed CDC Guidelines of practicing social distancing and the utilization of PPE (mask). Just after the Sheriff’s return from the conference, he felt a bit under the weather and decided to proactively test for COVID. The test returned positive,” said Sgt. Rich Aloy, Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office public information officer.

The results of the test do not indicate where or how the virus was contracted. Our office has had members test positive before the Sheriff’s departure to the conference. More importantly, Sheriff Johnson is doing extremely well and is currently quarantined at his residence,” Aloy continued. “We want to share our thoughts and prayers to those members of our Agency who are currently having difficulties with their illnesses.”

About 60 people from across the attended the Florida Sheriffs Association Conference in person, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, Corrections Secretary Mark Inch, incoming House Speaker Chris Sprowls and sheriffs across the state.

Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan attended the conference virtually.

Comments

11 Responses to “Santa Rosa Sheriff Bob Johnson Positive For COVID-19 After Attending Sheriff’s Conference”

  1. Gman on August 7th, 2020 7:49 am

    Pretty careless of the sheriff to even attend an out of town conference during a pandemic. It appears that Santa Rosa Sheriffs office has no real protocol in place. Current employees and spouses that work there are not made to quarantine when one tests positive. My current employer has canceled all out of town travel and training and mandatory self quarantine if you come in contact with anyone even suspected of having the covid. You run the risk of having no one available for patrol or corrections at this rate.

  2. David Huie Green on August 7th, 2020 6:11 am

    BT,
    REGARDING, “I would love to see some candid photos from that conference showing how much compliance with CDC guidelines really happened.”

    You can find an album of pictures on facebook taken at the conference at
    https://www.facebook.com/floridasheriffsassociation/photos/?tab=album&album_id=129922860385473

    You could do a Google search of “Florida Sheriffs Association Conference 2020″ and have it show images.

  3. Joni on August 6th, 2020 11:02 pm

    @Question? I work at a place where after the 14 day quarantine you have to get tested again and be negative before you can go back to work. I’m sure quite a few places do this.

  4. I bet on August 6th, 2020 7:22 pm

    I also would like to see pictures from conference. I would bet my paycheck there was no mask and no distancing.

  5. Qpid on August 6th, 2020 3:57 pm

    I work for a fairly large retail chain and we have also have had a handful of associates test positive. They are required to show a negative test result before returning back to work. These cases were weeks apart and the people were fairly certain who or where they had contracted it from. There hasn’t been any spread from one associate to another we’re pretty certain.
    I have a neighbor that lives across the street, had to test because of working in the health care field, tested positive without having any symptoms, tested two weeks later after quarantining and tested positive AGAIN! Never had the first symptom. Wonder how these type of tests are recorded?

  6. David Huie Green on August 6th, 2020 8:21 am

    REGARDING:
    “Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan attended the conference virtually.”

    Smart of him.

  7. BT on August 6th, 2020 7:36 am

    I would love to see some candid photos from that conference showing how much compliance with CDC guidelines really happened.

  8. Question? on August 6th, 2020 5:39 am

    What protocols are in place that state that you have to be tested multiple times after a positive test? This sounds like some Facebook bologna to me. I work for a large company and there have been positive tests in employees. No one requires another test they just have to stay quarantined 14 days after the positive test and can return after that with no symptoms.

  9. David Huie Green on August 6th, 2020 2:49 am

    REGARDING:
    “I thought this virus took 10 to 14 days of incubation? If so, wouldn’t he had contracted the illness BEFORE he went to the Conference?”

    From CDC:
    Common question
    “What is the incubation period of the coronavirus disease?”

    “Typically, a person develops symptoms 5 days after being infected, but symptoms can appear as early as 2 days after infection or as late as 14 days after infection, and the time range can vary.” Jul 27, 2020

  10. Jason on August 5th, 2020 11:24 pm

    Hmmmm……. I thought this virus took 10 to 14 days of incubation? If so, wouldnt he had contracted the illness BEFORE he went to the Conference?

    Here’s hoping for a speedy recovery. I’m sure the testing companies are enjoying the income from the required multiple re-tests following each alleged positive test.

  11. tg on August 5th, 2020 7:51 pm

    Hoping for a good outcome.