Some Arizona legislators have downplayed the dangers of the coronavirus and plenty of Republican lawmakers are calling for a quick end to the state’s stay at home order.

But state Sen. Lupe Contreras is urging Arizonans to take the coronavirus very seriously.

He’s got it and so does much of his family: his wife, mother, father, sister and a niece.

In little more than a week, the coronavirus spread through his family and drove them away from each other and into isolation at home.

And while he’s grateful for the bipartisan outpouring of well wishes and the care of doctors and nurses fighting the disease, it is not lost on him that the day he got tested was the same day demonstrators crowded into the Capitol to call for an end to the state’s current public health precautions.

“I don’t need a sympathy card. What I need is for people to understand that this is real,” said Contreras, D-Avondale.

The assistant minority leader said his mother was the first in the family to test positive for COVID-19. She was hospitalized with pneumonia earlier this month. The diagnosis of pneumonia seemed reassuring in a way, he said. After all, it’s treatable. But she later tested positive for the new coronavirus.

“That’s when our world changed,” Contreras said.

His father tested positive, too.

Contreras said his mother was recovering at home and both he and his sister had cared for her. He was not able to get tested immediately, however. It was only after he noticed symptoms over the weekend that he could get a test. Contreras believes he spread it to his wife. They are staying home and he is worried about giving the virus to their children. He is keeping away from them as a precaution.

On top of the disease itself, that fear has been a whole other burden.

“The way your insides get torn apart because you’re seeing your family suffer or afraid you might give it to somebody else who might not be able to deal with it like you,” Contreras said.

Elected to the state Senate in 2014, Contreras previously served in the House of Representatives and the news about his positive test comes as legislative leaders discuss plans to return to the state Capitol on May 1 to officially end their annual session.

The Legislature temporarily adjourned on March 23 as COVID-19 spread around the state and many lawmakers have pushed back on the idea of adjourning soon, keen instead to continue working at the Capitol in May, after Gov. Doug Ducey’s current stay at home order expires.

In the meantime, there has been an outpouring of support for Contreras from both sides of the political divide at the Capitol

“We are praying for the speedy and full recovery of our friend Lupe and his family,” said Senate President Karen Fann, R-Prescott.

It is unclear how the Legislature will ultimately proceed on May 1, but the news about Contreras brings the new coronavirus close to home at the Legislature.

By Thursday, 5,769 people across Arizona had tested positive for COVID-19 and 249 are known to have died, according to the state Department of Health Services.

Based on his own experience, Contreras said the state needs more testing.

The Arizona Department of Health Services announced Thursday that anyone who thinks they could be infected with COVID-19 or has been exposed to it could get tested. But previously, only people who were considered high-risk or had certain symptoms could get a test. At one point, the state health department issued guidance discouraging testing because of a lack of supplies.

The state also needs to take the disease seriously, Contreras added.

“I just wish I could change the mentality of people,” he said.

Contreras likened living with COVID-19 to a rollercoaster ride.

“One minute you’re feeling good and the next minute you’re not,” he said. “You just hope that your days keep getting better.”

Contact Andrew Oxford at andrew.oxford@arizonarepublic.com or on Twitter at @andrewboxford.