Vaccinated County Leader Tests Positive For COVID-19

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FL — Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners Chair Jose “Pepe” Diaz and his chief of staff, Isidoro Lopez, tested positive for COVID-19 Sunday.

Both Diaz and Lopez, who are both vaccinated, began experiencing flu-like symptoms earlier Sunday and have been isolating since then, according to a news release shared by Diaz on Twitter.

Staff members and others who have come in contact with them are being tested for coronavirus, the news release said.

For more than two weeks, Diaz has been active at the site of the collapsed Champlain Towers South condo building in Surfside, frequently appearing alongside other county leaders during news conferences and other meetings.

Diaz represents District 12 in Western Miami-Dade County. The area includes the city of Doral, Hialeah Gardens, Medley, Sweetwater, Virginia Gardens and a portion of Hialeah, as well as a large portion of unincorporated Miami-Dade.

First elected to the BOCC as a commissioner in 2002, he was re-elected to his fifth term in 2018.