57 year-old Wei Guixian told the local Chinese press that she was among the very first cases of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan last December, making her potentially patient zero worldwide.

Wei Guixian, one of the very first suspected cases of Coronavirus, tells the WSJ that “a lot fewer people would have died” if the Chinese government had acted faster in addressing the epidemic https://t.co/3dRP2Ip9AO — Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) March 27, 2020

Guixian, a shrimp vendor at Huanan market, which is highly suspected to be the birthplace of COVID-19 reported having cold symptoms as early as the 10th of December 2019.

She says that her symptoms were a little stronger than usual that she had to visit a nearby clinic, where she received an injection, before returning to Wuhan's now-famous wet market to carry on with her daily work.

Guixian points out that her condition was even worse the next day so she visited the Eleventh Hospital and Wuhan Union Hospital, where she learned that several other people from the Huanan market have been admitted to the hospital suffering from the same symptoms.

The person believed to be the first ever human infected with COVID-19 has broken her silence.



Wei Guixian is a 57-year-old seafood merchant at the Huanan Market in Wuhan where the virus is suspected to have first made the jump from a bat to a human -- her. — UPDATES ON COVID 19 (@deizy2010) March 29, 2020

It wasn't until later that month that the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission released a statement explaining that Guixian and 27 other patients have tested positive for COVID-19.

Although she has recovered last January, the shrimp vendor believes that she has contracted the virus through a toilet she shared at the wet market with meat sellers.

Chinese outlet, The Paper, reported that three family members had also contracted the virus and have all recovered since then.