Bowser Staff Member Dies From Coronavirus: Updated

UPDATED (March 27, 4 p.m.): D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine issued the following statement Friday afternoon about the death of George Valentine, the deputy director of the Mayor's Office of Legal Council, due to the coronavirus:

“All of us at the Office of the Attorney General are devastated to learn that George Valentine has passed away after a battle with COVID-19. George was a wonderful person and a committed member of the community who dedicated two decades of his career to public service in District government, including at OAG as Deputy Attorney General for our Civil Litigation Division. Over the approximately 25 years he spent doing indispensable work, most recently as Deputy Director for the Office of Legal Counsel, he left an indelible mark on his colleagues and the District. We send our deepest condolences to George’s family and join them in remembering an admirable man whose life ended far too early.”

Earlier reporting:

WASHINGTON, DC — A staff member of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser who recently tested positive for the new coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, died Friday morning from the virus. Bowser made the announcement during a Friday morning briefing on the city's coronavirus response.

Bowser identified the staff member as George Valentine, deputy director of the Mayor's Office of Legal Council.

Valentine, who served more than than two decades as a D.C. government employee, worked 20 years in the Office of the Attorney General.

"My prayers right now are with his family, his entire team, and of course, we will be supporting them through this very difficult time," she said.

According to Bowser, Valentine had gone into the hospital on Wednesday. She first became aware of his testing positive with COVID-19 on Thursday and found out about his death on Friday morning.

"We do have a protocol, of course, working with the Department of Health about workplaces if we find a COVID-positive person and we are engaged in that process right now to notify staff members."

Bowser described the news as devastating for her and her staff.

"These are folks that are coming to work because they're performing essential tasks and we're sharing that information with them as well as the many thousands of D.C. workers who are teleworking," she said.

Bowser confirmed that she had not been in contact recently with Valentine and that contact tracing was underway to determine if any staff members or D.C. government employees were at risk.

On Thursday, the Metropolitan Police Department reported a third MPD officer tested positive for the new coronavirus. The D.C. Department of Health also confirmed 36 new positive cases of the virus, bringing the overall number of positive cases in the District to 267.

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