LA Mayor Garcetti Quarantining After Daughter Tests Positive For COVID-19; Says He Won't Take Biden Cabinet Post
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Thursday that he and his wife were quarantining at home after their daughter, Maya, tested positive for COVID-19.
"Our beloved daughter Maya, who turned 9 this weekend, wasn't feeling very well," he said. "And after she came down with a fever, we had her tested for COVID-19 and her results came back positive."
Garcetti said that his daughter was doing fine with mild symptoms and that both he and his wife have tested negative.
"But as we monitor Maya's symptoms and take care of her, my family is going through what so many families across this city and this nation and around the world are experiencing," he said.
Garcetti said his daughter would isolate for at least 10 days since the onset of symptoms, and he and his wife would be quarantining in accordance with public health guidelines.
Garcetti also said he was contacted by President-elect Joe Biden's administration earlier this week, asking if he would like to "serve," but said he told them he wouldn't want to leave Los Angeles in a time of need.
The mayor did not elaborate further on what he discussed with the administration or what his service would have entailed.
"That wasn't a hard decision for me," Garcetti said. "As the administration reached out to me about serving, I let them know early this week that my city needs me now, and that I want to be here and that I need to be here. Serving as your mayor and building on your trust and your confidence is the greatest privilege of my life."
Garcetti said he has been advising the administration on policies and shared his perspective as the mayor of one of America's largest cities, but he said he was not motivated to go to Washington, D.C.
Protests have taken place for weeks in front of the mayor's house, organized by Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles and Ground Game LA, urging the Biden administration not to pick Garcetti for a cabinet position based on what they say is the mayor's dismal record on addressing homelessness, police enforcement and other issues.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)
