Cumberbatch believes he was ‘patient zero’ of pandemic

Benedict Cumberbatch believes he could’ve been patient zero of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Academy Award-nominated actor is taking a closer look at the mysterious illness that left him nearly incapacitated in 2019. After going over his symptoms, he now believes he was among the first people to contract the deadly COVID-19 disease.

“I was incredibly ill to the point that when all this COVID stuff suddenly broke in the new year,” Cumberbatch revealed to The Independent.

After reading reports about the pandemic, the 44-year-old “Dr. Strange” star expressed concern that he could have contributed to the outbreak, telling the publication, “I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, was I actually patient zero.’”

He had flown to Cape Town, South Africa, toward the end of 2019 to film his movie “The Mauritanian” when he was struck by the mysterious illness.

“I was so ill — it was borderline pneumonia,” he described, saying he powered through the sickness to complete filming.

Cumberbatch said working on the legal drama opened his eyes about Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. military prison near Cuba that was established after the 9/11 attacks to house terrorism suspects.

After filming the movie, which is based off the memoir “Guantanamo Diary” written by former detainee Mohamedou Ould Slahi, Cumberbatch says he is joining the efforts to have the center shut down.