Juarez mayor says he’s now free of virus, among 182 to recover from it

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico -- Mayor Armando Cabada announced Tuesday evening that his doctor said he's re-tested negative for Covid-19 and is now officially “recovered.” He declared himself virus-free in a social media video. (You can see it above.)

That makes the Juarez leader one of 182 people in his city to officially be listed as having recovered from the coronavirus. To date, there have been nearly as many deaths from the virus as there are recoveries in Juarez.

Cabada had proclaimed "no one is exempt from contagion" after announcing on May 6 that he was self-quarantining after testing positive for Covid-19.

"We're gonna be fine," Cabada had said at the time, noting that he was asymptomatic, or in other words - not experiencing any symptoms. He repeated that same line again in announcing his recovery.

It was unclear exactly what had prompted the mayor to first get tested earlier this month as Mexico has come under fire for its lack of testing.

Only about 150,000 tests have been carried out so far in Mexico, a nation of about 125 million people. That gives the country one of the lowest testing rates in the world.

As of Tuesday, there were 696 known virus cases in Juarez, with 163 of those resulting in death.