Well, I just found the first Covid case in the UK …

Pro-tip: It pays to read the Reader Comments.

Until now, the first Covid case in the UK was Jan. 29, 2020. Now we can say the first case probably or perhaps occurred in November 2019.

While doing research for my next story, I found a good story from the UK’s Daily Mail about athletes who became sick at the World Military games.

As I’m prone to do, I started reading the Reader Comments, which, for this article,  included more than 500 comments, most from readers who suspect they or someone they know had Covid before late January 2020.

I can’t be sure of course, but I might have stumbled upon the first “known” case of Covid in the UK.

What follows is the post of a lady who identifies herself as “Just lil old me” from Lancashire, England.

The first part of her post deals with her 9-month old grandson who became very ill in January 2020. This may or may not have been a case of early Covid. However, in the second half of the post the reader probably makes major news she perhaps didn’t know she was making.

Here’s the post in its entirety (emphasis added). The story appeared May 16, 2020 so I assume this post was made on or around the same date.

“My grandson was very ill in January. He was 9 months old. They put him in isolation in hospital. His temperature was 106.2f, he had a cough that sounded like whooping cough, a rash all over his body, red eyes, and just generally unwell. Despite being on a drip he was poorly without improvement for 6 days before his temperature finally started to reduce. The Doctors didn't have a clue what it was. He was in hospital for 9 days in total.

“I was very, very poorly in November. Double pneumonia and in ICU. I tested negative for flu but obviously not tested for covid as it was not known about at that point. I paid for an antibody test 3 weeks ago. It shows i had covid-19. I haven't been poorly since November with anything so I obviously had it then. I hadn't been out the country or even my own town so how did I get it?!”

DISCUSSION:

Just Lil Old Me reported that she was extremely ill in November 2019. She had double pneumonia and was treated in ICU. Significantly, she also reports that she “tested negative for flu” so she didn’t have the flu.

She said she got an antibody test “3 weeks ago,” which would mean she got the antibody test the last week in April 2020. I don’t know about the U.K., but this is the same time antibody tests became common in America.

She also reports that she had not been sick after her severe illness in November 2019. It’s possible, but I would say highly unlikely that she had an asymptomatic case in March or April that explained her positive antibody test (see Reader Comments for reasons for this).

Of course, this lady could have been lying, but I don’t know what motivation she would have to do this. I tend to believe she’s telling the truth. Fibbing or not, her post contains enough intriguing and very important details for someone in official capacity to investigate - given that her possible case would have occurred at least a month before the Wuhan outbreak.

Other big conclusions that flow from this little tidbit ….

From one little Reader Comment at a news website, we can make some large conclusions, including these:

The lab or doctor’s office she got her positive antibody test must know this lady thinks she had Covid in November 2019. Question: Did this lab or doctor’s office report this fact to public health officials in the UK?

If so, did public health officials in England contact this lady to investigate her claim? Probably not, because she would have reported this detail.

How many other people in the UK got positive antibody tests in late April 2020 that could be traced to 2019 or early 2020? Just like in America, the public doesn’t know this … but should.

My educated guess is that there are many other UK citizens who got positive antibody tests in April or May who were sick with Covid symptoms four or more months earlier.

It’s also clear that a reporter for The Daily Mail did not contact this news-maker.

Presumably, this newspaper would have this reader’s email address from when she registered to make reader comments. Also, presumably someone from the newspaper reads Reader Comments.

Did no one from this paper know that one of its readers had just reported that she had Covid more than two  months before the first official case in the UK?

The first official cases in England occurred on January 29, 2020 - two Chinese nationals from the same family staying at a hotel in York.

As noted, this Lancashire grandmother reports that she had not travelled out of the country or even her town so she would have also been the first (known) case of “community spread” in England.

Of course Just Lil Old Me didn’t give the virus to herself - some unknown person, probably from her neighborhood, workplace or family infected her … and some unknown person would have infected that unknown person. So if she is telling the truth, any virus spread in Lancashire probably began at least by early November if not October 2019.

Anyway, I’m happy to have identified the first likely Covid case in England. There’s no charge (although I do accept tips).