One year after being confirmed as Rochester's COVID-19 “Patient Zero,” the 32-year-old man is healthy and surprised to still have COVID-19 antibodies in his blood.
He prefers to remain unidentified. While things have changed dramatically since March 2020, and it's unlikely that he would be shamed in the way he was a year ago, he remains concerned about fallout.
"There's a lot of stupid people in this world," he told WXXI News. "I kept hearing that the St. Patrick's Day parade was canceled because of me. People were angry. I heard it all."
If his name got out now, he explained, "I just don't know where the narrative could go."
Shaming has been a problem throughout the pandemic, with many COVID-19 patients worried about how their friends and family would feel about their diagnoses. Rochester's Patient Zero said shaming is counterproductive and is spurred by social media.
"Facebook Mother Theresas out there, Facebook gangsters, they need to get people to like their comments," he said.
It's clear that the man who was known as Patient Zero was not, in fact, the first Rochesterian with COVID-19. Despite very limited testing, COVID-19 cases would pile up in the next two weeks.
The first patient had returned from a backpacking trip to Italy with intense symptoms, but not the classic COVID-19 symptoms: He was suffering from diarrhea and, in his words, "crazy pink eye." His runny nose was the mildest of the symptoms.
He remembers being at home on March 10, 2020, when he received a call from Highland Hospital. The woman on the phone asked, "Are you sitting down?"
"That's when I knew I had it," he said.
But then the nurse on the phone told him the good news: He did not have the flu. He laughs today at the idea that his flu diagnosis would precede the COVID-19 diagnosis.
"I'm sure they're much better at delivering the news now," he said. Within minutes, Monroe County Health Commissioner Dr. Michael Mendoza was on the phone, offering a kind of game plan.
Patient Zero recovered without any lingering COVID issues. He feels healthy and strong today. The final sign of his convalescence was the return of his taste and smell -- which, curiously, he didn't identify as a COVID symptom at the time.
"I had just been in Italy, where the food is amazing," he said. "Then I'm eating Wendy's. I thought it was just the difference between great food and crap."
The most encouraging news comes from his blood and plasma donations. Patient Zero said he has given blood twice and plasma twice since recovering from COVID-19. The last time he received results was Jan. 14, when he was informed that his blood still carried antibodies.
"That's something I want to share, and it's something you read about, and we're still learning about it -- but I still have them," he said.
He's waiting for results from his most recent donation from early March. He's not sure if his antibody levels are declining, but he assumes that is the case.
"It is a weird thing,” he said. “Everyone's body is so different. I hear some people who also got COVID and they don't have antibodies anymore."
He's eligible for the vaccine because of his job status, but given his antibody results, he's holding off on getting vaccinated.
One year after the maelstrom of his diagnosis, Patient Zero is looking forward to normal life. He described his pandemic year as very low-key, with the same kinds of sacrifices that many people made. He wonders if the sacrifices were enough.
"If I were an old person, I think I would be pretty upset," he said. "They're the most vulnerable, and some people just kept making bad decisions."
He canceled his travel plans, which hurt the most, including a trip to Expo 2020 in Dubai.
That trip won't be rescheduled, but others will.
"It's been a weird year," he said. "But I'm good."
