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Someone who attended Tuesday’s meeting of the Davenport Civil Rights Commission believes they were exposed to someone who may have been exposed to COVID-19, the new coronavirus.

That meeting attendee is now experiencing symptoms of the virus, according to Civil Rights Director Latrice Lacey, who notified meeting attendees in an email Thursday afternoon.

Most cases of COVID-19 show mild symptoms, which can include fever, cough and shortness of breath.

Per doctor’s orders, the attendee is being quarantined, Lacey said in the email. Their identity is not known publicly. Lacey said the individual is "experiencing respiratory symptoms."

"There is now a regional consortium with members of many other local government entities working on this issue and developing a coordinated regional response strategy, and the City of Davenport is participating in these efforts," said Mallory Merritt, city human resources director, in an email. "The City is not currently aware of any City of Davenport employee COVID-19 cases. We are also not aware of any employees working from home due to mandatory or self-quarantine procedures."

“The Civil Rights Conference room is a perfect place to pass a virus. The room is small and people are very close together,” said Richard Pokora, a Civil Rights commisioner who has previously supported moving the commission meetings to City Council Chambers. (Those requests are part of an alleged open meetings law violation.)

Graham Ambrose is the Iowa politics reporter for the Quad-City Times.

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