PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — As state Rep. Grace Diaz went into the hospital for COVID-19 treatment on Wednesday, she took to Facebook to emphasize the importance of following state guidelines.

Diaz says last week she started to feel pain, but when it got worse over the weekend she decided to get a rapid test, which came out positive.

“I was devastated because I’ve been taking care of my mother — she is 91,” Diaz said. “My biggest fear is that my mom will have COVID or something that will threaten her life.”

When her symptoms continued to get worse, Diaz said she called her doctor, who made an appointment at Miriam Hospital for her to get monoclonal antibody treatment.

“I was in so much pain, I couldn’t breathe well,” she said.

On her way into the hospital, Diaz went live on Facebook speaking in both Spanish and English to relay a message.

Diaz began the video speaking in Spanish, explaining afterward, “I dedicated those minutes to the Black and Latino community to tell you this is serious.”

The Providence Democrat explained she feels a responsibility to bring awareness to her constituents on the severity of the virus.

“We have to follow what the Department of Health and the governor are telling us to do, in order to avoid the cases getting bigger,” Diaz said.

Diaz also reminded people to not go out and celebrate this holiday season, instead suggesting a double Christmas for 2021 or maybe an extra Christmas during the summertime.

“Don’t go out, don’t celebrate,” she said. “We can do that next year, we can have a double Christmas 2021, we can have a Christmas in summer.”