An accountant from Wuhan, in China, considered to be first person to have contracted COVID-19, actually developed symptoms eight days later than what was initially reported. This makes a female seafood seller at the Huanan market the first known case.

A study published in the journal Science stated that the confusion was created due to complications from dental treatment that made the man sick on December 8. Fever and other symptoms caused by coronavirus started only on December 16. This was after several workers at the Huanan market were already showing symptoms, including the seafood vendor whose symptoms started on December 11.  

Study author Michael Worobey stated that the man lived 30 kilometers away from the market with no known link to it. It is likely that he was infected through community transmission after the virus started to spread in the city… (NDTV – Bloomberg, November 19, 2021)