Former Boston City Councilor Tito Jackson disclosed on social media Saturday that he has tested positive for COVID-19.
Jackson is quarantining at his home and is distancing from family members, he shared in a public Facebook post.
"Stay your butt at home!" Jackson wrote. "This virus is no damn joke."
Jackson said he began having a sore throat and a cough beginning on March 14 and his symptoms grew worse.
"I began to have the worst body aches EVER in my life with all my muscles throbbing with pain," he described. "I had shooting pain in my ankles and knees. I also had horrible back pain under my shoulder blades that felt so bad."
He initially believed he had the flu because he did not get a flu shot, but his test results for COVID-19 came back positive.
Jackson said he was treated with Tamiflu which he believed helped turn the tide.
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Jackson said disproportionate rates of cardiac, respiratory-related and chronic illness among the African-American community can increase the risk of severe COVID-19.
"We have take this illness seriously or it will take our lives at a serious rate," he wrote.
"If you don't sit down, it will sit you down, lay you out or even take you out," wrote Jackson. "Even worse you could pass it on to someone else."
According to Jackson, it's likely he may have exposed others since that time. Jackson said he attended a birthday party around that time and called the attendees to let them know they may have been exposed.
Jackson said he is recovering and will quarantine for another two weeks.
"If we don't flatten the curve, we will have so many avoidable deaths of loved ones based on our unwillingness just to stay home," Jackson wrote.
