A likely coronavirus exposure reported Friday on an Oklahoma City TV news broadcast has sent a judge, an attorney and a court reporter into self-quarantine and virtually sealed off one wing of the Kingfisher County Courthouse.

Chris Sloan, an Oklahoma City attorney who participated in a March 11 docket in the main county courtroom, told Oklahoma City reporters on Friday that he later tested positive for COVID-19.

District 3 County Commissioner Heath Dobrovolny said county officials, including the county health department, were not notified by either Sloan or the state health department about the possible exposure.

“We only learned of his diagnosis Friday at noon when News 9 called,” Dobrovolny told the Times & Free Press. “The local health department was not aware either.”

Sloan said in a story broadcast Friday that he had returned from a Florida vacation March 11 “and immediately felt sick.”

Sloan appeared on behalf of a client on a protective order docket in the Kingfisher County courtroom the same day, in front of District Judge Paul Woodward of Enid, on three related cases scheduled that day, according to online court records.

Sloan told the TV station he was tested later that week at OU Medical Center after he learned someone else on the Florida trip tested positive for COVID-19.

Dobrovolny said as soon as he received the call he went straight to the county health department.

“As I understand it, the health department where the attorney is from is supposed to initiate an investigation to make contact with all parties involved to determine who was in ‘direct contact’ with him and evaluate who should be tested.”

Dobrovolny said neither Sloan nor the Oklahoma County Health Department had informed the county of Sloan’s diagnosis and Dobrovolny had requested but had not received an official confirmation from the state at press time Tuesday.

After Sloan made his diagnosis public, Woodward, another attorney involved in the hearing and an Enid court reporter have self-quarantined and as of press time Tuesday were reporting no symptoms.

Prior to Sloan’s disclosure Friday, a courthouse employee with symptoms possibly consistent with COVID-19 submitted for testing March 16 and is self-quarantined while awaiting for results, which had not been received as of press time Tuesday.

“We don’t know if there was a direct link (between that employee) and the attorney exposure,” Dobrovolny said.

Even before being notified about the possible exposure, Kingfisher County commissioners voted at an emergency meeting last Wednesday to limit public access to the courthouse to the front lobby area only, where bins are set up for paperwork to be left for and retrieved from each office.

Starting Monday, the judicial wing of the courthouse, which includes the courtrooms, district attorney and court clerk offices and the judge’s chambers, has been completely isolated from the rest of the building.

“No one from that wing is allowed to come past the lobby and they all use the south doors by the jail for entering and exiting the building,” Dobrovolny said.

In addition to being present in the courtroom, Sloan also spent time at the court clerk’s counter, where he and an associate were filing paperwork.

Court Clerk Lisa Markus said Sloan did not appear symptomatic for the brief time that she interacted with him over the counter.

In addition to wearing gloves for handling documents, Markus and her employees are wearing homemade masks sewn by County Treasurer Robin Rother and her employees, to avoid touching their noses or mouths as well as protect from airborne contaminants.

Dobrovolny said all courthouse offices have initiated extra antiviral cleaning of workstations and doors throughout the day in addition to the regular cleaning schedule.

“We have also limited direct office interaction and use the individual plastic bins in the lobby for the collection and transfer of documents between offices,” he said. “Each office also has nitrile gloves to handle intra-office paperwork as well as documents brought in by the public.”

The court system had also issued an order postponing all dockets, hearings and trials scheduled in the next 30 days and holding only emergency hearings and those required to protect the rights of jail inmates, in accordance with a State Supreme Court emergency order earlier last week.

Associate District Judge Lance Schneiter told the Times & Free Press that the March 11 docket where Sloan was present actually was the last docket held in the local courtroom before in-person activities were curtailed by court order. “We have held hearings

“We have held hearings by phone and only have had a few emergency matters come up (requiring in-person hearings) which were held one at time with everyone involved staying more than six feet apart,” Schneiter said.

Kingfisher County commissioners approved a declaration at their regular meeting Monday formalizing last week’s emergency decision to close the courthouse to most public access. With the exception of the county health department entrance on the south side, the courthouse annex also is effectively locked down.

“Unknown instances of exposures like this are exactly why the board of county commissioners voted unanimously to limit access by the public to the courthouse complex,” Dobrovolny said. “We have implemented and followed CDC/State Health Department guidelines to the best of our ability, while maintaining our obligation to serve the people of Kingfisher County.”

As of 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, the Oklahoma State Health Department reported 102 confirmed cases of COVID-19, but none in Kingfisher County.

The number of confirmed cases in the state is expected to increase as testing becomes more available and is completed more quickly.

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CONFIRMED: 104 State; 0 County