A home worker have tested positive for COVID-19 after finding a used tissue and pack of chewing gum in a new jacket she purchased online, according to local reports.

       An unidentified woman, hailing from London, bought a ￡15 ($19 USD) trench coat online from "Pretty Little Thing," a Manchester-headquartered women's clothing retalier, the US Sun reported.

       But as soon as the woman put her hands inside the pockets of her newly bought jacket, she found two unusual objects: a used tissue and a packet of chewing gun.

       She soon began to feel ill, the US Daily Sun reported, adding that she later tested positive for COVID approximately 36 hours after she touched the objects.

       The woman told the outlet: "I've been working from home for months and so decided to buy myself the jacket as a treat along with some other things.

       ''When it arrived I put it on and wore it for an hour or so before putting my hand in the pocket and pulled out a used tissue and a packet of chewing gum.

       "I screamed and felt physically sick and I took the jacket off straight away," the woman told the outlet.

       The woman explained that she had attempted to contact Pretty Little Thing only to be met with a dismissal. She added that she quickly began to experience COVID-related symptoms, such as loss of sense of taste and smell.

       "I contacted Pretty Little Thing and told them what had happened but they didn't seem at all interested. Later the next day I started feeling ill and I lost my sense of taste and smell, a cough and a temperature."

       "I didn't feel well at all and so I took a Covid test and it came back positive. I have been working from home and haven't been out so I can only have got it from the jacket and tissue so I told Pretty Little Thing but they just fobbed me off.''

       Pretty Little Thing told the US Sun in a statement that it is investigating the incident, adding that the clothing had been shipped by Clipper Logistics, a UK-based retail logistics company that sells a variety of products such as fashion.

       The United Kingdom announced its first national lockdown in mid-March 2022 after a woman in her 70s was tested positive and became the first confirmed virus-related death in the country.

       In the four years since the first cases struck Europe in January 2020, the UK has recorded more than 24 million cases and over 232,000 deaths linked to the disease.