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Speculation began circulating among people that it is very likely the Covid-19 illness appeared much earlier than in March. After all, the coronavirus could easily have reached us from China a few months earlier. The testimonies of some people point to the fact that they could have been infected by the virus already at the turn of the year.
From communist China we most likely never received the real number of infected and dead patients struck by the coronavirus pandemic. The virus currently afflicting the planet arrived unexpectedly and is gradually sweeping across the globe. In the Czech Republic the first tested case appeared on March 1. However, there are speculations that the virus was here much earlier. The testimonies of five people indicate that what they suffered from might not have been an ordinary flu or pneumonia. The medicines prescribed by doctors did not help, the illness lasted too long and no one discovered what was actually wrong with them. Only antibody tests could show that…
Symptoms similar to coronavirus
Šárka confided that she suffered from a hacking cough. “I was tired, only slight fevers, but the coughing was intense. I suffered from it from January to February. But because I’m a patient with a weakened immune system, no one paid much attention. My ENT told me he didn’t know what to prescribe,” she explained and added that neither antibiotics, codeine, Ambrobene nor Levopront helped. “On Feb. 20 it stopped suddenly and the cough was gone. I suffer from sinus problems, but I never had a cough like that,” Šárka concluded her testimony. Květa admitted that she has long suspected she had the illness in mid-February. “Almost a week of 38°C fevers, terrible headache and a strange cough. The doctor diagnosed it as the flu,” she described her illness and added that she wants to get an antibody test later. The illness reportedly lasted about a month.
Illness in February
In another testimony, a young woman said she was already sick at the beginning of February. “I had burning in my chest. It was as if my lungs were burning. I had fevers, a cough, difficulty breathing and it took about two days for it to subside. I only took Paralen, vitamin C, sprayed Strepfen into my throat and slept,” she described the course of her illness and added that she also drank tea.
Air conditioning or coronavirus?
Sylvie caught something similar on a plane before Christmas and blamed the air conditioning. She had a sore throat, a fever and a dry cough that left her sleeping about three hours a day in January. Codeine reportedly helped her and the illness persisted for a long six weeks. She also wonders in retrospect whether she might have been infected with the coronavirus. Johana gave testimony on behalf of those who fell ill around her. “My sister-in-law and four other relatives had pneumonia, a dry cough, high fevers, headaches and were very tired. Even twice-prescribed antibiotics did not help. I was in contact with them, but I only had a cold,” the woman said.
Antibody tests
Whether the coronavirus was already in the country much earlier can still only be speculated about. If someone went through the illness caused by the virus, it is possible that antibodies developed and they can be tested for them later. Then it will be seen whether they really suffered from Covid-19.
