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VALLEY — At Tuesday’s meeting of the Valley City Council, two people who are almost always present when the council meets — Council Member Marquetta Madden and Planning and Development Director Travis Carter — were absent.

Madden has been staying at home after testing positive for COVID-19, and there’s a chance Carter has it.

Carter’s wife, Wanda, has had the virus for several days and fortunately has been getting back to normal. She works with Madden at the Huguley Water Authority office, where all four women in the billing office have gotten COVID-19.

“We’ve been under quarantine since last Tuesday afternoon,” Carter said. “My wife was tested on Saturday, April 4, and we were notified the next Tuesday that she was positive. We’ve been staying at home since then. I thought I was going to be one of the lucky ones and not get it, but for the last couple of days I’ve had the symptoms – the fever, an aching sensation and the dry coughing. I’m going to be tested for it on Friday. I’m going to go by the rules. Hopefully, I can knock it out and get back to work.”

Carter said the problem for him right now is to know for sure he has the virus.

“I want to know if I have it,” he said.

“They told me to come in for testing in two days.”

Madden told The Valley Times-News that she had been under the weather with the virus but that she was now feeling much better and was grateful for that.

“I’ll be going back to work on Monday,” she said. “I never thought anything like this would happen to me. I know people who have lost their lives with this, and I know what that did to their families. My heart goes out to them.”

Madden said she knows her situation is far from unique.

“There are so many people out there who have had this,” she said. “I’m one of the fortunate ones who got better, and I thank God for that.”