NZ racing figure tested for virus

‘‘I’ve had the flu plenty of times . . . but this flu is very different.’’

John Curtin, pictured

A Kiwi man is awaiting coronavirus test results after returning to New Zealand from a New York raceway where a worker died of the disease.

But John Curtin is philosophical about the possibility he has contracted Covid-19 and says he is not scared.

Yesterday, shortly after he was tested in Auckland, the 68-year-old told Stuff he was feeling better and in good spirits after becoming so sick he could hardly walk earlier in the week.

‘‘It’s not going to be anything to get carried away about,’’ he said.

Curtin has been involved in the horse racing industry for 40 years and runs the Harnlesslink news website along with the JC International bloodstock agent.

On Monday, March 2, he was at Yonkers Raceway in New York, getting his licence to race horses there. That night, he and his wife Sally were at a dinner with friends of American horseman John Brennan, who were coughing and sneezing throughout, though Brennan himself was not in attendance.

On Wednesday, it was reported Brennan died of coronavirus aged 69, becoming the first fatality to the disease in New Jersey.

‘‘The fact we were out with them for dinner and we get sick as well, you’ve got to ask the question.’’

Last Friday morning, he and his wife Sally arrived back in the country on Air New Zealand flight NZ29 from Houston, before heading home to Drury, south of Auckland.

Curtin said he did not become sick immediately but by Tuesday he felt very ill.

‘‘I’ve had the flu plenty of times . . . but this flu is very different. On the Tuesday morning, I could hardly stand up the muscles on the back of my legs were so sore.’’

He was also sneezing constantly, sometimes five times in a row.

Curtin has been self-isolating but yesterday he headed out to Roselands Doctors in Papakura, where Dr Mary Daly took swabs for testing. The results are due today.

Curtin said a man who was sick at the dinner is also awaiting testing, but in the US it took four to five days compared to just one day in Auckland.

‘‘They’re coming back tomorrow, so it must be pretty efficient in New Zealand, I’d say.’’