Mayor relates his family's own covid-19 story as he recommends caution on Derby Day-Labor Day weekend

By Taylor Beavers
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

Midway Mayor Grayson Vandegrift says in his latest covid-19 update that the pandemic has “hit home” now that his parents were affected. He told their story as he asked Midway residents to be careful on a weekend that will include the Kentucky Derby, a good reason for a party in Bluegrass horse country.

“I’m sorry if I seem preachy today, but I think when it hits home for you most is when you get a family member – the people I was most worried about all along, my Mom and Dad, have now gone through it,” Vandegrift said, adding later, “For two weeks, I was scared.”

He said his mother, Sarah Vandegrift, caught the virus at her workplace in Lexington. “My mom is the most careful person in the world,” he said. “She taught us good hygiene from a young age.”

“My mom ended up having a hard time,” but has largely recovered, the mayor said.

His parents live in Ironworks Estates in Scott County, near Midway. Vandegrift said he and his family were only able to contact her through text messages for about two weeks while she recovered in quarantine.

“This is not something you want to get if you don’t have to get it,” says Vandegrift as he recounted many symptoms his mother went through.

He said his father, Bob Vandegrift, tested positive but never developed the disease. “It’s bizarre. . . . Some people who are healthy and take great care of themselves have passed; we don’t know why.”

Vandegrift says his mother felt a sense of “civic duty” when dealing with the virus, and personally contacted every person she had been in contact with to inform them she had been infected so they could take steps to get help if needed.

“She did everything right,” the mayor said. Looking ahead to the weekend, he said, “Let’s do our civic duty, like Sarah Vandegrift.”

He said his weekend has the potential to have a “cascading effect” on Midway, leading to more coronavirus cases. So far, the city has had only two reported infections of the virus.

Saturday’s Kentucky Derby will have no fans, so many people who might have attended may have parties instead.

Vandegrift encouraged those attending Derby parties to host them outdoors and to practice social distancing.

“Be careful this weekend,” said Vandegrift. “Remember that ripple effect.”

He recalled that when his mother told him she might have the virus, he said, “We decided not to take any risks that weekend,” And he said he and his wife Katie wouldn’t be attending and Derby parties this weekend.

He said that with in-person schooling scheduled to begin this month, taking precautions now against the virus is the crucial step in making sure students are able to get back to the classroom in September.

“The key to getting kids back in school on the twenty-eighth is this weekend,” Vandegrift said. “Every other big holiday . . . we’ve had a rise in cases.” 

He said that while there is no need to be scared this weekend, following safety guidelines such as wearing a mask and social distancing will help keep the community safe during the celebration.

Vandegrift also said that citizens of Midway can practice their civic duty by considering how they can help keep the local economy open.

“Midway Station is doing well; downtown is struggling more,” he said, encouraging his audience to get out and shop local.

“We need to keep helping them out,” Vandegrift said. “We need to be ordering food, we need to be dining on their patios, we need to be visiting their shops and buying something.”

He stressed that supporting local business during this time can still be done safely by making considerations such as wearing masks, staying in stores less than 30 minutes and even, if it’s uncomfortable to go inside, doing curbside service.

While Midway’s economy is still doing better than most, Vandegrift said that making efforts to keep the economy open is crucial to getting ahead of the virus.

“Let’s catch up to the virus,” he urged. Being “behind the virus” has affected contact tracers who have been overwhelmed with the task of tracing infected people’s contacts to find those who may have been infected.

“They’re understaffed, they’re underfunded, they’re doing the best they can,” said Vandegrift. “Woodford County Health Department is doing an unbelievable good job, but the virus has gotten ahead of us and we need to try and catch back up.”

He said that while the “vast majority” of people who contract the virus do survive (Kentucky’s death rate is 2%), it is important to continue to be safe because the lasting effect of the virus on individuals and communities is still unknown.

“The book’s not yet written. We are still in the middle of this,” said Vandegrift. “I hope we’re towards the end, but folks, it doesn’t look like we are. . . . We have eighteen hundred of you in the city and not one of you is expendable.”

After the virus is under control, Vandegrift said he hopes everyone can see the pandemic as just a “blip” in their lives as things go back to normal.

“I hope it teaches us all about love, about compassion, about empathy and about when we work together we can overcome difficult odds,” he said. “Because a virus this contagious gives us some difficult odds to contain it.”