THE woman who alerted the York Press to the UK’s first case of Covid-19 after spotting paramedics in hazmat suits outside a city hotel said the moment gave her “shivers”.

The 28-year-old, who does not wish to be named, spoke to the Press on the evening of January 29, 2020, after spotting the emergency workers outside the Staycity Aparthotel in York as she drove home.

The Press checked out the tip-off, and within a day or two York was at the centre of a national media storm as it emerged that two guests at the hotel were the first confirmed Covid patients in the UK.

The woman, speaking to The Press exactly a year ago, said: “I was just driving past the Staycity hotel and I saw I was coming up to flashing blue lights.

“When I got closer I saw a guy with a mask on and then two figures - I guess paramedics - in the back of the ambulance with him.

“They were in white quarantine suits with a box on the back.

“I was just taken aback. I’ve never seen anything like that. When it comes so close to home, that’s when it gets a bit scary.”

Speaking to The Press again a year on, she said she was struggling to think the incident had now been a year ago.

She said: “It feels like longer, although it’s quite mad that it has been a year.

“I was just driving past and I remember seeing the back of an ambulance and a few paramedics and hazmat suits and somebody in the back. Just driving past gave me shivers. I’ve never seen anyone in a hazmat suit before. Seeing that and driving away – it was quite surreal.”

She said she watched the story unfold in the media, and recalls the moment it was confirmed that two guests at the Staycity had tested positive for coronavirus.

She said: “I didn’t expect to see what I saw. It was a shock when it was confirmed. As it blew up it just became more and more hard to believe.

“Covid was not known really, it was still quite vague. People didn’t know anything about it. It was something in the papers from elsewhere and it will never happen to you.

“It’s led to a year of complete uncertainty – all those questions and no answers.

“It’s just crazy. It’s affected everyone’s lives. It’s now 2021 and it’s still impacting everyone’s lives.

“You don’t think the impact is going to be as big. It still doesn’t feel real. It’s just a strange situation.”

Now, like everyone else, she is hoping for an end to the pandemic and a return to some sort of normality.

She said: “You just want to look forward to something. Nobody knows the answers. I think people are getting fed up now. People just want it to be over."