State Senator Lupe Contreras says he, his wife and four other family members have tested positive for COVID-19.
The virus spread through his family, but he said it’s not known how it got into his family in the first place.
“It’s been a whirlwind of emotions,” Contreras said.
Contreras said he and his wife, Sara tested positive for COVID-19 this week. His mother was the first in his family to contract the virus, which then spread to his sister, father and niece.
His mom’s symptoms were so bad she stayed in the hospital for several days.
“We are a tight-knit family, we’re always together. When it went from my mom and it literally just went through the family as quick as it did, I was concerned,” Contreras said.
Contreras and his wife are now sanitizing the house early in the morning before their three kids wake up. Then they go back to their room to quarantine themselves as they try to keep their boy and two girls safe.
“They cry through the door, and they just want a quick hug and you just can’t do it for the betterment of them and it just tears you apart,” Contreras said.
Contreras said his symptoms come and go.
“We could walk around and people probably wouldn’t know at certain times that we have a cough or that we’re not feeling good, so it’s a scary thought,” Contreras said.
He said the future, is what leaves him concerned now.
“The unknown to this is the problem,” Contreras said. “We don’t know if a year down the line this is going to be lingering in our bodies. We don’t know. And no one can tell us that, good, bad, indifferent, no one can tell us that.”
But he said he wants people to understand the threat of the virus exists.
“My cough is real. My headaches are real. The pain that my family has gone through is real. The fear that we’ve gone through is real. Every aspect of this is real,” Contreras said.
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