In the year since COVID-19 almost killed him, Eric Bryant has worked hard to rebuild the strength and stamina the virus took from him. He was 51 when he entered Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center on March 8, 2020, and became the first person in the Rappahannock Area Health District to test positive for the novel coronavirus. Up to that point, Bryant had been active and healthy, an Army veteran working as an operations research analyst for the Navy. He ate well, went to the gym regularly and didnât take any medicine. He didnât even have a prescription for glasses, said his wife, Kristal.