First Briton to catch coronavirus dies after ‘enduring more lockdown than anyone’

Connor Reed worked in Wuhan and had Covid-19 symptoms in November

Connor Reed was the first Briton to receive a diagnosis of Covid-19 and caught the coronavirus in Wuhan. He was found dead in his halls of residence at university. Facebook

A man believed to be the first British citizen to have contracted the coronavirus died in an accident at a university in Wales.

Connor Reed, 26, was working at a school in Wuhan, thought to be the origin of the pandemic, when he became infected in November last year.

He returned to the UK after spending five months in strict confinement in the city.

His mother, Hayley, said her son, from Llandudno, Wales, was found dead in his halls of residence at university.

Writing on Facebook, she said: “It brings me great sadness to announce our beautiful son Connor Reed has passed away in a tragic accident at Bangor University at the weekend.

“He will be so greatly missed by his brothers, family and friends. He had such a wonderful smile, enthusiasm and love for life.

“We are blessed to have had you in our lives, if only for a very short time. Rest in peace, our darling.”

She told The Sun her son had "endured a lot of hardship in China" and had undergone "more lockdown than anyone we have known".

Wales, where he was attending university, re-entered lockdown a fortnight ago.

“Over the last six months he endured a lot of hardship in China contracting Covid and having over 20 weeks lockdown under strict conditions,” she said.

“He endured more lockdown than anyone we have known – 16 weeks’ harsh lockdown in Wuhan, two weeks in Australia and a further three weeks in the UK.

“We are both broken-hearted that his adventures came to an end at Bangor University, where he was studying for a degree in Chinese language, with what looks like a tragic accident.”

Paramedics were called to Reed’s room on October 25 but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police are not treating his death as suspicious.

Reed initially put his illness down to a bad case of the flu, treating it with honey and hot water, but after a week his health deteriorated and he felt as though he had been “hit by a train”.

The student was admitted to hospital after developing a serious cough and losing his voice.

In a daily diary published in the Daily Mail, Reed said it took 52 days for Wuhan health authorities to diagnose Covid-19.

A few weeks after his recovery, he wrote in the diary: “The whole world has now heard about coronavirus.”