Westchester coronavirus ‘patient zero’ breaks silence: ‘I thought it was just a cough’

The lawyer who became the coronavirus “patient zero” in Westchester County said in a new interview that when doctors first examined him, there was “no mention” of the deadly illness that has since infected more than 335,000 in the state.

Lawrence Garbuz — who was revealed on March 2 to be the first known carrier in New Rochelle, where the contagion quickly spread — spoke out about his ordeal for the first time in a sit-down that aired Monday on NBC News’ “Today.”

“I just thought it was a cough. A winter cough and quite frankly, I’m not certain that any of the sort of medical staff had been thinking about that initially when they examined me,” Garbuz, 50, , with his wife, Adina, by his side.

Asked whether the virus came up during his first visit to the doctor, Garbuz said: “Not at all. There was no mention of it at all.”

He added: “I’m a lawyer. I sit at a desk all day. I think at the time we were s༒ort of focusing on individuals who had maybe traveled internationally, something that I had not doneꦯ.”

The attorney was the second person in the state revealed to have tested positive for COVID-19. He was released from the hospital in late March.

His wi✤fe said they initia🌱lly thought he had pneumonia, but he just kept getting “worse and worse.”

“Healthy, vibrant person, all of a sudden overnight gets so sick so quickly. I know that at this point, we’re not so surprised by that. But at that time, it was shocking,” Adina said.

When she found out her husband had contracted COVID-19, she said she was “on the phone through the night with various departments of health finding out what to do, and sharing everywhere we went,” adding, “I didn’t want anybody else to get sick.”

Eventually, she decided to transfer her husband to a larger hospital in🅠 Manhattan.

“I just didn’t think he was gonna make an ambulance ride,” said Adina, who made sure her husband was intubated for the ambulance ride to help him breathe.

At one point during his illness, Garbuz had to be placed in a medically induced coma, sources previously told The Post.

“My wife saved my life,” Lawrence said. “After we entered the emergency room, I have absolutely no recollection of anything that transpired until I woke up from the coma.”

The ꦫdad of four, who rode the Metro-North train to get to his boutique Manhattan law firm, likely contracted the illness locally.

It quickly spread among dozens in his community — which became the first coronavirus hotspot in the country, prompting Gov. Andrew Cuomo to establish a mile-radius “containment zone” centered on the family’s synagogue.

At least 1,341 people in Westchester County have succumbed to the virus, according to state data. At the height of the outbreak, the county was reporting ✱30 to 40 deaths a day.

More than 31,000 people there have been infected.

“I really have not focused on any of the media frenzy in terms of one of the first patients to get it,” Lawrence said in the interview. “But I have been focused more o💛n, as I say, getting better.”

For Ella Garbuz, one of their kids, hav꧋ing their dad home has been a blessing🏅.

“This is just like a miracle for all of us,” she said🐬.