Tempe Mayor-elect Corey Woods has tested positive for the new coronavirus just days before he is set to take office. 

Woods, who will be sworn in as the city’s new mayor on Thursday, announced on Facebook that he had contracted a minor case of the virus and was self-quarantining at home.

“I feel lucky because I know people who have gotten it that have had much more severe symptoms and of course I’ve read about people who’ve died from it,” he told The Arizona Republic on Tuesday night. “When I look at my own symptoms … I got off easy.”

Woods first developed a mild fever on Friday morning and had body aches, he said.

Unsure if it was COVID-19, he decided to quarantine at home until he could get tested, he said.

Woods, who works at Arizona State University, got a saliva-based COVID-19 test at the ASU Biodesign Institute on Monday and received the results on Tuesday. The saliva test is currently only available to ASU employees and is less invasive than the nasal swab test.

Woods said he isn’t sure how he contracted the virus.

He has been working from home for the past four months, has tried to limit his time outside of the house and wears a mask when in public. He doesn’t know anyone locally who has been sick, he said.

By Tuesday night, many of his symptoms had subsided. The fever lasted a day and the body aches went away shortly after. His energy levels are back to normal but he still hasn’t fully gotten back his sense of smell, he said. 

Woods, along with incumbent Councilmen Randy Keating and Joel Navarro and incoming Councilwoman Doreen Garlid, will be sworn in on Thursday evening. 

The ceremony originally was set to take place in person with a limited number of friends and family allowed inside the Tempe City Council chambers, which are still closed to the public. Now, it will happen virtually. 

“We will all take the oath of office online,” Woods said.

Woods said while he doesn’t want his diagnosis to overshadow Thursday’s ceremony, he wanted to be transparent about it and assure residents that he is making a full recovery and is ready to take on his new role.  

He also wanted to “call attention to how serious this is.”

“It’s a very serious issue, and the fact that I don’t know how I got it shows you how serious it is,” he said, encouraging people to double down on efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus.

Reach reporter Paulina Pineda at [email protected] or 480-389-9637. Follow her on Twitter: @paulinapineda22.

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