Apple Co-Founder’s Bizarre Tweet Claims He Might Be ‘Patient Zero’ for Coronavirus in the US

Janet Wozniak told USA Today that she had been diagnosed with a Sinus infection, not coronavirus as Steve had claimed.

By Darab Mansoor Ali | Updated: 3 March 2020 12:59 IST

Apple Co-Founder’s Bizarre Tweet Claims He Might Be ‘Patient Zero’ for Coronavirus in the US

Wozniak had returned from China in January

Highlights

Janet Wozniak has reportedly been diagnosed with a sinus infection
Wozniak called it “the worst flu of our lives”
Wozniak said that Janet’s cough started on January 4

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, on Tuesday claimed that he and wife Janet Wozniak might have been 'patient zero' for coronavirus in the United States, when the couple returned from China in January. In a tweet, the tech entrepreneur said, "Checking out Janet's bad cough. Started Jan 4. We had just returned from China and may have both been patient zero in US, further marking the West Coast Sports Institute in Santa Clara in the tweet.

Checking out Janet's bad cough. Started Jan. 4. We had just returned from China and may have both been patient zero in U.S. (@ West Coast Sports Institute in Santa Clara, CA) https://t.co/MRNHqithEU
— Steve Wozniak (@stevewoz) March 2, 2020

However, the tech mogul's tweet turned out to be a false alarm as Janet Wozniak later told USA Today that she had been diagnosed with a Sinus infection after getting checked.

Further, the USA Today report quotes the Apple co-founder as saying that this was the "worst flu of our lives," citing his condition in Las Vegas where he was supposed to make multiple appearances right after returning from China. Wozniak says that he was only able to make a couple and did not speak since he had lost his voice.

"We canceled everything else to head home, but I couldn't move out of bed for two days. I did tell everyone that I was sick and stayed away from almost all in Vegas," Wozniak was quoted by USA Today as saying.

He also told the website that his wife, Janet was coughing up blood and was told by a hospital that it wasn't an American flu. Further, he said that had they came back from the Southeast Asian country today, they'd have definitely been tested and quarantined.

He also told the website that there was no test for the COVID-19 virus back then. Even the test that is done through CDC, he said wasn't done on him and wife since they were well past the symptoms.

Wozniak also told CNET in an email that when he notified the CDC, they sent him a "boilerplate response" about washing his hands. He further told the website that the possibility can't be ruled out, since the CDC won't test them. He also admitted that the 'patient zero' tweet was a joke.

"Patient zero" was kind of a joke. I think that our GI symptoms would fit some other flu, because you rarely hear of that with COVID-19. But there's no way to ruse us out," CNET quoted Wozniak as saying.

Coronavirus outbreak has killed more than 3,100 people across the world, most of them being in China, with six casualties in the United States as well.

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