Schools, the grocery store, your office — all the usual suspects where we assume one could come into contact with COVID-19. But that's sadly not always the case. For one woman in England, it was her husband who contracted the virus while traveling — but what she didn't know was that he got COVID-19 while on vacation with his mistress.
The unnamed husband's lie came to light in the worst possible way.
The man, who is only described as being in his late 30s, told his wife that he was on a business trip somewhere else in the UK, but little did she know he was actually meeting his mistress in Italy, the The Sun reported.
When he returned from his vacation, he went to a hospital because he had coronavirus-like symptoms.
As I'm sure you can guess, he tested positive.
The man, described by a source as being "well-heeled and with a high-flying job," admitted to his doctor that he was having an affair and was with the woman in Italy, but he refused to name names.
"Although the patient admitted to medics what had happened, he said nothing would persuade him to name his mistress," the source said.
His case has become a puzzling moral quandary for the health care professionals who've been treating him.
"This patient is the talk of public health officials," the source said. "His case would be funny if it wasn't quite so serious."
Especially because his wife has no idea of the truth.
For now, his wife is self-isolating in their home in the north of England, but she's still in the dark about the details.
"The man confessed what he'd been up to in Italy, and that his wife has no idea," the source continued. "She thinks he just picked up the disease on his business trip away."
Fortunately, the husband is expected to survive the illness.
Understandably, the incident was a harsh blow to his extramarital relationship.
"He thought he had the perfect alibi to carry out his affair, but hadn't reckoned on the coronavirus meltdown," the source said. "The patient is just relieved he got home before flights were cancelled — that would have taken some explaining."
Italy is one of the countries that has been hit the hardest by COVID-19.
In an opinion piece written for the The New York Times, Dr. Marco Pavesi, an anesthesiologist living in Italy, explained that the new coronavirus is unlike their country has ever seen.
"As of Tuesday, nationwide, there were 31,506 cases, of which 2,941 recovered and 2,503 died," he wrote. "Lombardy, the region most affected, has 16,220 cases, with 1,640 dead, 879 in intensive care — 56 more than the day before — and 2,485 clinically cured. With these numbers, the country’s health care system may soon collapse."
Another report from The New York Times noted that as of March 1, most of Italy has been on lockdown in attempt to stop the spread of COVID-19, and government authorities have advised against all but essential travel. But it's possible that the unnamed husband had been exposed to the virus before the lockdown started.
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like this husband gives a fig about putting his wife at risk.
In fact, the source made it seem to The Sun that right now the man is breathing a sigh of relief.
"He's in a blind panic, but more about his adultery being exposed rather than his health," the source said.
It's not known if his wife contracted the virus, but here's hoping that she stays safe — and gets a really good divorce lawyer when the virus passes.
