Coronavirus cases have risen exponentially in Boston, reaching a total of 825 on Monday, close to 30 times the number of cases from just over two weeks ago, when the city first declared a public health emergency.

Former city councilor and former candidate for mayor Tito Jackson is one of the hundreds who have tested positive for the virus. He told Jim Braude on WGBH News’ Greater Boston Monday that he is “on the mend” now, but “was definitely scared” when he first developed symptoms.

“I had … initially a bad cough, then the next day, the fever as well as a headache. Then the third day, really bad muscle throbs, aching pain and then it just got worse from there,” he said. “I was most scared for anybody I had come in contact with.”

“I locked myself down on the second day and have been in quarantine ever since,” he added.

Jackson also addressed rumors that he said have been circulating online that people of color are less likely to contract the virus.

“There were some rumors out there that black people did not get [coronavirus.] That is absolutely false,” he said, adding that high rates of certain respiratory diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, can actually put communities of color at a greater risk.

“This disease state definitely does hit black, Latino, Asian and white people,” he said. “It does hit us, and it hits us very, very hard.”

Jackson said coronavirus can hit people of any age, too.

“I have a friend who is ten years younger than me that actually ended up in the hospital … I was able to weather this at home,” he said. “You don’t know whether it’s going to put you in the hospital or not. That’s why social distancing is so, so important.”

Jackson, who is now the owner and C.E.O. of the recreational and medical marijuana company Verdant Medical, also weighed in on the financial impact the crisis is having on his industry.

“This is having a horrific effect,” he said. “Can you imagine what that means in the first year, that you have been completely shut down?”

Unlike liquor stores, recreational marijuana companies are classified as non-essential and are subject to statewide closures aimed at preventing the spread of coronavirus. Jackson urged state officials to reconsider.

“The recreational stores need to be able to open,” he said. “They should be treated the same way as stores that sell liquor.”