Essex councillor Chris Vander Doelen is saying COVID-19 is not something to be taken lightly.
This coming after public outrage connected to a number of tweets from Vander Doelen calling the virus the "Chinese flu" and stating COVID stood for "Chinese Origins Virus" when it, in fact, means Corona Virus Disease 2019.
Council colleagues had asked for a formal apology Monday night, and while they didn't get that, Vander Doelen did acknowledge the virus is far more serious than he thought after testing positive earlier this month.
He says COVID started out mild and then took a turn for the worse.
"When I made a tweet a couple of weeks ago that got me in such trouble I was hoping to perform a public service and tell people what it was like and my first three days experience was, "This is nothing man." I was sleeping a lot, but it certainly wasn't hard to carry. Then it dragged me back down."
Vander Doelen says he felt like he was hit by a truck.
"People cannot make light of this disease. It got scary. I lost 12 pounds which is the most weight I've lost in 40 years since I had severe food poisoning back in the early 80s. I wasn't able to eat for 10 days. I could not lift my head off the pillow for many days. It was scary."
He says he feels terrible for those who end up in the hospital.
"I had to try to go to sleep with the feeling of a fist squeezing my bronchial tubes. I can just imagine what sends people to the ICUs and on to the ventilators. It must be just godawful and terrifying. I feel so terribly for them."
The town's Integrity Commissioner Robert Swayze is looking into the matter after receiving dozens of complaints — he's expected to come back with recommendations for council at its May 17 meeting.
Residents have called Vander Doelen out for being xenophobic and contributing to hate towards Canada's Asian community — he maintains that was not his intent.