Lisa Badger, a Springfield Park Board trustee, confirmed Sunday that she is one of the three people currently diagnosed with COVID-19 in Sangamon County.

Speaking by phone with The State Journal-Register, Badger acknowledged that she was tested Thursday evening outside of a Memorial Health System outpatient facility in Springfield and again Friday in the same manner.

"I am in isolation at home, and have primarily been, since Wednesday evening when my symptoms became concerning," Badger said.

Badger, who works as a community affairs specialist in state Treasurer Mike Frerichs' office, said the positive results were relayed to her via telephone Saturday evening just as public health officials announced the first two positive cases in Sangamon County. The other case involves a 71-year-old Florida woman, who remains in intensive care at Memorial Medical Center.

Public health officials confirmed a third case involving a person not from Sangamon County. That person is currently being treated at Memorial. No additional information was immediately available about that patient.

They also said that results from eight tests are currently pending.

Badger said her first known possible symptom began March 4 with a slight headache. The next day, she had a temperature of over 100 degrees and remained home from work.

Badger did not have any other symptoms until March 9 and March 10, when she again registered temperatures over 100 degrees. Out of caution, she stayed home from work. Though she did not have a fever during the day Wednesday, it spiked that evening to 101.9, prompting her to call her physician Thursday morning.

After relaying symptoms ranging from elevated blood pressure, headache, body ache, sore throat and cough, Badger was administered the test.

"As I have not been out of the country, or had any known contact with someone who has been out of the country, or had direct contact with someone who has tested positive, it can only be assumed that I received the COVID-19 virus through community spread," Badger said. "That could have been in any number of ways, as I had been in the public: grocery stores, restaurants, employment, community gatherings, etc."

One of the public events Badger attended was the Springfield Women's March on March 8, where she was in close contact with Springfield city council members Ward 6 Ald. Kristin DiCenso and Ward 8 Ald. Erin Conley.

Betsy Dirksen Londrigan, a Democratic candidate for the 13th Congressional district who attended the march, announced she was going into self-quarantine until March 22.

"I'm doing this out of an abundance of caution to make sure that I'm doing my part to keep my family and our community in central Illinois healthy," Londrigan said in a video posted to her social media channels.

Both Conley and DiCenso said they have not exhibited any symptoms, but also have gone into self-quarantine.

"I think it’s important to play my part in reducing as much as possible the spread of this virus," Conley said. "And we know now that it’s in the community, so probably there are other people who have it too. Maybe their symptoms aren’t as bad as other people’s, but we know it’s in our community, so I’m going to try my best to minimize that."

In a Facebook post, DiCenso said she's "very healthy and I know I'll be fine," but will stay home in an effort not to infect others. She said she came into contact with "hundreds of people" last week.

"Did I do too much last week? Probably," DiCenso wrote. "This is how community spread happens."

In the meantime, Badger has requested that people respect her and her family's privacy. She hopes people will stay home, noting that seemingly healthy people can transmit the disease, which can be especially deadly for the elderly and the immunosuppressed.

"I am saddened and angry that some people are not taking this seriously, especially those who are expected to lead us in times of uncertainty and crisis," Badger said.

Badger also expressed concern over how the Sangamon County Department of Public Health handled her case. She said the department has not followed up with her or her contacts appropriately and they have not collected data for the 14 days prior to her first known possible symptom on March 4.

“I attempted to offer that information and it was not being received,” she said.

Regarding that, Gail O'Neil, director of the Sangamon County Department of Public Health, said the department has been following the guidelines set by the state department of public health, choosing to focus on contacting people who may have been around her when she was most infectious.

"We're really not concerned about where she got it at this point," O'Neill said. "We're concerned about where she may spread it and when she was most infectious ... So, yeah, there wasn't a long time backwards that we were responsible for following up on."

Badger also said that officials conducting contact tracing may have breached her privacy rights under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act by disclosing her name. Badger said she's been in contact with her attorney over the concern.

But, Sangamon County officials said they were within their rights under HIPAA's public health exception, which allows disclosure of protected information "to a person who is at risk of contracting or spread a disease or condition."

"So we attempt not to disclose, however, with the public health rules and in the pandemic situation, we have to get people treatments and the opportunity to know if they're going to be ill potentially, quickly," said O'Neil.

"When you're doing an STD tracing, you know, it's not disclosed, because, frankly, in that situation, it's pretty obvious who's been involved," added Sangamon County Administrator Brian McFadden, using an example of a more typical contact trace. "In this case, it isn't. So the professionals that were doing the screen felt at that time that they were going to err on the side of disclosure, because as I said, the privacy rule basically says you can share patient information in order to prevent or lessen an imminent threat to public health.

Badger said she is in constant contact with her doctors and is recovering. She said she will remain in isolation as long as necessary.

"I love our community, and only wish us to be well," she continued. "Please consider those who are largely affected by this: the hourly workers in healthcare, our restaurants, our hotels, and our grocery stores. I am thankful I am well enough to share this information with you. If my condition were worsened, I likely would not be able to."

Contact Brenden Moore: 788-1526, bmoore@sj-r.com, twitter.com/brendenmoore13.