It was October 2019. On a sunny spring day in Wellington, Richard, a builder, was doing some work in a house in the suburb of Seatoun. The renovations had been a bit erratic, as the lady of the house had just come back from a trip to the UK and Europe, and she had asked him not to turn up at the house several times because she was still suffering from jetlag. He was anxious to get the work finished as soon as he could because he had another job to start.
Anne, the lady of the house, was not only jetlagged though. She had also arrived back in New Zealand with a very bad cold. She was very feverish and struggled with the noise of powertools as Richard was working. She couldn’t put him off forever though, and on this day, even though she was still very unwell, she was trying as hard as she could to manage the noise, and be pleasant to Richard, who really was a very good builder.
When they stopped for a coffee in the kitchen, Anne sneezed several times, and at least once, she sneezed over Richard and his coffee cup. He was aware of it, but found it hard to not be polite, and anyway, she may have been unwell, but she didn’t seem terribly ill. He reckoned that, if he caught her cold, he would be able to soldier on without too much trouble.
But he was wrong. A few days later, Richard began to feel very unwell indeed. He had terrible aches, a dry cough and a persistent fever, which would spike, fall away, and then come back as virulently as ever. He had no energy, spent whole days in bed, which was unusual for a fit and healthy 45 year old, and in the end, he was off work for the best part of three weeks, which was bad news for him, as it put him even further behind with his workload.
Richard’s wife, Sarah, nursed him through this terrible flu, and actually caught it herself, but she suffered only mild symptoms and felt unwell only for a few days. Unfortunately, she also passed the illness onto a few of her friends, but again, no one seemed to suffer very badly with it, and their 18 year old son, who lived with them, didn’t seem to get the flu at all.
Richard recovered and started going about his daily business again. He still felt weak for some time, but otherwise, he was recovering well. He told anyone that would listen that he often catches colds and flu at the end of winter, just when he thinks he has got away with it for another year… and this year was no different.
However, by the beginning of December, Richard was recognising that he had another problem. He had completely lost his sense of smell.
There was no apparent explanation for this. He just couldn’t smell anything. The only thing he could smell, if it counted at all, was a strange ‘wet canvas’ type of smell that didn’t seem to emanate from anything in particular. He couldn’t smell the coffee or the roses. He couldn’t actually smell anything at all.
Richard started going to a nasal specialist, who was nonplussed by his problem. Richard underwent a number of tests, and various treatments, but nothing seemed to make any difference. Christmas passed, the summer carried on and still Richard could smell absolutely nothing.
It was well into February when Richard was sent to another specialist, this time a doctor who specialised in infectious diseases. He listened to Richard’s story, taking him back over the events of the last few months. This doctor had been working overseas, but had come back to New Zealand because of the threat of possible lockdown due to the pandemic. He came to his conclusion very quickly.
“Richard” he said. “I think you have had COVID-19.”
Richard was then subjected to a test, which was negative. His wife was also tested, and her result was also negative. Unfortunately, at that stage, there was no available antibody tests that might have confirmed the doctor’s suspicions.
What is so strange about this story?
It is all true.
No one can now confirm whether Richard actually had COVID-19 or not. There are unconfirmed reports about unusual activity around hospitals in Wuhan during October last year. This would suggest that the virus has been with us for longer than we realise, even though it is possible that it was not recognised as a pandemic at that stage, but rather as a typical seasonal flu.
If he did indeed have COVID — and the damage to his sense of smell is a bit of a giveaway — then what are the chances of it being the only case in the entire country? By my reckoning, and it is a very rough one, Anne, Richard, Sarah and their son must have come into contact with 200 or so people during the incubation period, not counting those on the plane with Anne when she returned home. Their son Jon belongs to a group of ‘Bronies’ (men who like “My Little Pony”) who meet up regularly, so the numbers may be even greater than that. But as far as they know, although Anne passed the virus to Richard, he passed it on to Sarah who then passed it on two one or two friends, only Richard was really ill with it. No one else outside their close-knit group seems to have caught the virus from any of them.
As far as they know.
Could it be that COVID has been here longer than we realise? Could it be that it is not quite as contagious as we thought?
Could it be that we are some way down the road of herd immunity already?
I would be interested to know if anyone has any similar stories. Think back to last October. Did anyone you know have the flu? Did anyone you know lose their sense of smell? I remember Sarah telling me about Richard losing his sense of smell last year, and thinking it was all very strange. Now, maybe, with the benefit of very recent history, it doesn’t seem strange at all.
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