Five years on from NI’s first Covid case: ‘I remember wondering if it would reach here... I couldn’t have imagined what was ahead’
Five years ago, the first case of Covid-19 was confirmed in NI — an occurrence that would change Brenda Doherty’s life and thrust Dr Connor Bamford into the spotlight
Dr Connor Bamford and Brenda Doherty reflect five years on from NI's first Covid case.
On New Year’s Eve 2019, Dr Connor Bamford took note of a new virus outbreak in Wuhan, China. The Queen’s University virologist marked it down as ‘one to watch’ in the weeks ahead. But having seen similar outbreaks before, he believed, like the rest of the world, that it could and would be contained.
Around the same time, Brenda Doherty had spent Christmas with the woman she still calls her “inspiration”. She had little idea it would be the last Christmas she would have with her 82-year-old mum Ruth Burke.
