Gary school advisory board president Robert L. Buggs said he decided to take the COVID-19 test before visiting his newborn granddaughter in late November.
“I had a little granddaughter born, so I wanted to be around her,” he said.
A testing site in Merrillville administered a nasal swab and a test on Nov. 30. His rapid test came back negative within about 15 minutes.
Three or four days later, Buggs, 79, began experiencing headaches and coughing that got progressively worse. Then, he developed breathing problems.
“I never had a fever or loss of smell and taste,” he said.
He called back for the results of the nasal swab and found out he was positive.
He’s been in self-quarantine ever since and led the advisory board’s Dec. 8 meeting virtual meeting, while stop to cough periodically.
Buggs, who was reelected to the school board in November and is serving a third term on the Gary Library Board, said he has no idea how he caught the virus. He said he wears masks and gloves regularly.
On Monday, his voice sounded stronger and he thinks he’s turning the corner on the deadly virus that’s ravaging the U.S., claiming more than 300,000 deaths and causing 16.5 million infections, as of Monday.
“I feel a lot better,” he said. His granddaughter is 2 weeks old now and doing fine, he said.
Buggs said members of King Solomon’s Lodge in Gary and his fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi have been bringing him food and leaving it on his doorstep.
“I’m thankful for my lodge brothers and fraternity for buying me groceries. Everyday, there’s been bags and bags of stuff.”
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
