Nottinghamshire woman revealed as earliest known person to contract coronavirus in the UK, University of Nottingham scientists believe

A Nottinghamshire woman has been revealed as the earliest known person to contract coronavirus in the UK, scientists say.

An analysis of samples by the University of Nottingham showed the 75-year-old woman from Nottinghamshire tested positive on February 21.

It is also understood she was the first in the UK to die after contracting covid-19.

A Surrey resident was previously believed to have first caught the virus.

Almost 2,000 routine respiratory samples taken from patients at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham between January and March were tested.

The report, which has not yet been peer reviewed, states: "Patient 1 in this study is, to the best of our knowledge, the earliest described community-acquired case of SARS-CoV-2 in the UK, admitted to hospital care on the 21st of February 2020, and was also the first UK COVID-19 death, preceding the earliest known death by 2 days."