8 states, 1 hospital, 2 quarantines: Speedway's Jaycox urges Ohioans to take virus seriously

PERKINS TWP. — Kevin Jaycox has a message for Ohioans clamoring for a return to normalcy amid the coronavirus outbreak: Pump the brakes. Jaycox has worked in eight states since November and has been quarantined twice. He thinks he probably was stricken with COVID-19 before it became a national health disaster. His job with Hallcon, a Kansas City-based firm that handles transportation for railroad crews, has given him an up-close look at what life is like in parts of the country that have been hit harder by the virus than Ohio. "I'm not a (Mike) DeWine fan at all, but I think he saved a lot of people's lives in this state because he overreacted at the beginning, and thank God he did," said Jaycox. "Now you have all these people (complaining) — 'Hurry up and open up.' It ain't worth it. These people don't take it seriously." DeWine was one of the first governors to aggressively implement precautions against the virus and has been celebrated in many circles. Ohio is the seventh-most populated state in the country but ranks 16th in coronavirus deaths. As the drumbeat to open the state grows louder, Jaycox, who also owns Sandusky Speedway, stands as a cautionary voice. "I'll be the first to admit: When this all started I thought this was being blown way out of proportion," he said. "But once you know someone who has it, or you get quarantined, it makes everything real." Seven medications Jaycox, whose territory with Hallcon includes several Southern states, was working for United Pacific Railroad in Houston, Texas, in mid-December when he got sick. A co-worker who lives in Sandusky also fell ill and ended up in an ICU. "She was in pretty bad shape for about three days, then she was fine," he said. "We thought it was just upper respiratory stuff. "I had a hard time breathing and couldn't stop coughing, but it didn't do anything. They put me on seven different medicines. Within two days I started feeling a ton better." Jaycox received a call from the Houston hospital in early March and was told there was a good chance he had fought off the coronavirus. "Back then they weren't testing anybody but the symptoms were the same," he said. His job then took him to Longview, Texas, and by the end of January awareness of COVID-19 was beginning to take hold. In February, Jaycox was in Louisiana — another state hit hard by the virus — and said "that's when everything started getting scary." Jaycox and his crew, which had been training drivers for nearly four months, spent their last night in the state in Monroe in late February. "I think we were the last customers at the last restaurant that you were allowed to sit in," he said. "It was right before closing and we were the only people in the restaurant and the next day everything was shut down. "It's scary there. There was nobody on the streets. There were curfews." 'It was following us' From there, Jaycox headed north to Arkansas and the next night enjoyed a good meal with his crew at a pizza place. But soon, it was more of the same. "We were the only ones there at 9 o'clock at night," he said. "We went back to the hotel and weren't there two hours before the news came out: All the restaurants were closed. It was like it was following us." Jaycox then received word that someone he had trained in Louisiana had tested positive for the virus, which meant he had to be quarantined for 14 days in a Little Rock hotel. Soon, the pandemic would consume the entire country and Jaycox and his crew needed permits to drive at certain times during its stay in Arkansas. "I was really petrified in Louisiana, and Arkansas was pretty unsettling," he said. "In Houston, where I got sick, it never even phased me because it wasn't a big deal. " Jaycox headed for Ohio in late March, but received some unsettling news during the trip. "We were on our way home and one of our teammates who had toured everywhere with us, she gets sick," Jaycox said. "She called the hospital (in Monroe) and got tested." The test was positive and the employee had stayed in Louisiana with her family several states away. "There were times I'd call her and you couldn't understand one word she said," Jaycox said. "She barely had enough energy to speak. And she's in a hotel room and her family's in Illinois. (Hallcon employees were) taking her food, dropping it off at her hotel door, running back to the parking lot and texting her that her food is there." She beat the virus, but had to take cover when tornadoes tore through the South on Easter Sunday. Essential business Jaycox returned to his home on the grounds of the speedway on March 27 and had to spend two more weeks in quarantine because of his employee's positive test in Louisiana. He was able to work from home and says Hallcon, an essential business, has stepped up for its employees and has taken plenty of precautions. He's worked for the company for five years. "Without us the railroaders can't move," he said. "They have hours-of-service issues and we need to move them from train to train to keep the railroads going." But not all of his drivers have remained on the job. "I have 130 people (out of 2,800) who aren't working because they got scared," he said. "I got a lot of retirees who drive for me." Jaycox, who says he knows more than 20 people who have had the virus, can relate to his drivers who would rather stay home, and he's glad he's at home in Ohio. "I have definitely tempted fate way too many times. I don't think I want to do it again."