Jimmy Golub shares his story

By Kate Hill

Staff Writer

On March 24, Cazenovia Town Councilor Jimmy Golub announced in a Facebook post that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and is currently experiencing virtually no symptoms.

In the post, Golub shared his story with the hope that others might learn from his experience.

The councilor explained that he and his wife, Janine, were joined in their home by their daughter Natalie and her family from San Francisco on March 6.

On March 12, Golub drove to New York City to retrieve his 91-year-old mother.

“ . . . We very much wanted to get her up here to safeguard her and make sure she wasn’t alone,” Golub wrote. “So . . . I drove to [NYC], met her outside her apartment, threw her bag in the back seat and didn’t open the windows or get out until I was three hours outside the city. So our circle consisted of the seven of us. From that point forward we vowed to keep to ourselves. Nobody else gets inside our house. No shopping at stores. No contact with other people . . .”

Soon after his mother’s arrival, he began coughing.

Golub, who has asthma and a history of lingering coughs, said he was not alarmed by of the appearance of the symptom.

“This is sort of normal for me,” he wrote. “ . . . I made up my mind that I was going to get something prescribed to knock out the cough. I was afraid I was going to get COVID and wanted to be clear of any coughing.”

On March 16, Golub’s doctor prescribed medication for the cough and administered a COVID-19 test.

According to Golub, the medication started to work the following week.

“My airways were clear, my cough went away, and I felt great,” he wrote. “I took my horse for a ride one day. I cut and split wood on Sunday. Yesterday, seven days later, I received the call from my doctor saying I tested positive. I was shocked because not only didn’t I feel sick, I actually felt great.”

After receiving the results, Golub was contacted by the Madison County Health Department for a list of everyone he had contact with after March 13.

According to Golub, the only names on his list were the six other individuals in his circle.

“During the last week, I told my band members that I wasn’t willing to expose myself and family, and I couldn’t attend band practice,” Golub wrote. “I stayed in my car while the guy at the hardware store loaded the salt for my water softener that I prepaid for. I started using the drive in window for my drugs. I started getting my groceries delivered. I thought I was protecting myself and my family. Little did I know I was protecting everyone else.”

Golub hopes that his story will serve as a lesson about the importance of social distancing.

“Had I not been so obsessed with keeping germs away, I would have spread them,” he wrote. “There [are] some people who really have to stick their necks out for the rest of us. Health care workers, dairy farmers, people who transport goods, people who keep the gas stations open, pharmacists, mail carriers, UPS delivery people, etc. I would have bet the farm that I would have tested negative. I’m concerned about my Mom and the rest of my family. But I’m proud that I didn’t put anyone else at risk . . . Think how many people I could have spread this to if I continued life as normal.”

Golub and his family members — who have not been tested — report their temperatures to the Madison County Health Department every day.

For several days after receiving the test results, Golub and his family members were required to isolate themselves from one another and the outside world.

“We have to keep apart,” Golub wrote in a March 25 Facebook update. “We have to sleep in different rooms. Since we can’t really have separate bathrooms, I have to disinfect the bathroom after each use. I have to wear this mask if I’m in the same room as [Janine] and stay six feet away . . . There aren’t enough tests to test the rest of my family. But they want to safeguard everyone and assume I am still contagious.”

While Golub and Janine have remained in their home on “Our Farm,” his daughter, her family, and his mother relocated to Golub’s new farm on West Lake Road on March 15.

“[It’s] not so bad if I can ride a horse,” Golub wrote in a March 26 follow-up post. “I just want to say in a way I feel guilty. While I’m riding my horse, others who got the same virus are fighting for their lives. I get a lot of support, and people praying for me, or telling me how good I am to endure this. I have no symptoms. No discomfort. I don’t even know I have it. So I certainly appreciate the support but at the same time I don’t feel I deserve it.”

On March 29, Golub said he received a call from the health department explaining that the guidelines had changed and since it had been over a week since he first exhibited symptoms and more than three days since he last showed symptoms, his isolation and quarantine had been removed.

While Golub is no longer required to distance himself from his wife or wear a mask in her presence, his mother must remain in solitary confinement in her room until April 5.

“They want to be very cautious with her,” Golub wrote on March 29. “She has to remain isolated until April 5. My mom has a stuffed nose. I can hear it when I talk to her. But otherwise is OK. So we’re crossing our fingers on her.”

Golub hopes to submit his blood for an antibody test in the near future to confirm that he indeed contracted the coronavirus.

For the latest COVID-19 information from the Madison County Health Department, visit madisoncounty.ny.gov/2479/Coronavirus-COVID-19.