Miami-Dade Commissioners isolated with COVID-19 plead with community to get vaccinated

MIAMI – Two Miami-Dade County Commissioners who recently tested positive for COVID-19 remain in isolation.

Jose ‘Pepe’ Diaz is the chair of the Miami-Dade County Commission, but for the past week and a half, he’s been sidelined at home.

Diaz and his chief of staff both tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month.

“Yeah, it did surprise me, I’m not going to say it any differently,” he said.

Fellow Miami-Dade Commissioner Joe Martinez is also rebounding from the illness that got the best of him after he tested positive last week.

“Neck pain, headache, fever for about 2 days,” Martinez said. “The worst thing that I had was a stuffy nose, which I still have. There was a back pain right where the lungs are. It was so bad, I couldn’t even dress myself.”

Both county leaders believe the vaccine prevented them from a far more serious fate.

On Wednesday, booth had a message to the community about mask use in public and to people still on the fence about getting a shot, a population medical experts say is behind the latest spike in COVID-19 numbers.

“This isn’t going away,” said Martinez. “Not right now anyways, and one of the best ways we can do it is the vaccination, and if you’re in doubt, wear the mask.”


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