New York Lawyer Who Was 'Patient Zero' For COVID-19 Community Spread Speaks Out On His Unlikely Recovery

He credits his lawyer wife for saving his life.

(Image via Getty)

I’m thankful that I’m alive. It’s been quite a journey. I just thought I had a cough. Look, I’m a lawyer. I sit at a desk all day. I think at the time we were sort of focusing on individuals who had maybe traveled internationally, something that I had not done. I had certainly not been to China.

Lawrence Garbuz, the trusts and estates lawyer who became known as New York City’s “patient zero” for coronavirus community spread, in comments given during an interview with Savannah Guthrie on the Today show. Garbuz is recovering well at home, but was intubated and in a medically induced coma for three weeks’ time. “I have absolutely no recollection of anything that transpired until I woke up from the coma,” he said. “So it’s as if three weeks of my life had completely disappeared, and I was asleep for all of it.” Garbuz still doesn’t know how he got sick.


Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

Sponsored