Caleb Tochez diagnosed with Covid-19 at just six days old

At six days old, Caleb Tochez was the youngest Covid patient doctors at a major Queensland hospital had seen. Now his parents share their shock at the diagnosis – and the drama that continued after they took their little boy home.

Baby Caleb Tochez is one of Queensland’s youngest Covid patients.

The now two-month-old was just six days old when he returned a positive test after his brother Grayson picked up the virus at school.

The boys’ parents Nicole and Will decided to take their newborn son to the Queensland Children’s Hospital on February 24 after noticing something wasn’t quite right.

Mrs Tochez carried her baby into the emergency room, while her husband had to wait outside in the car due to strict Covid visitor restrictions.

Baby Caleb Tochez with his mum and dad Nicole and Will and older brother Grayson. Picture: Adam Head

She was with her baby boy when it was confirmed by doctors that he had contracted the virus in just his first week of life.

Mr Tochez was eventually allowed inside to console his wife before going home at midnight, leaving Mrs Tochez in an isolation room with baby Caleb.

“He was the youngest that those doctors had seen that had caught it,” Mrs Tochez said.

“So for them it was all kind of a new experience as well.”

Covid weakened Grayson and Mrs Tochez end up with the virus too, but she remembers being especially stressed after her baby’s diagnosis.

“They weren’t really sure how he was going to kind of deal with it, but he ended up fighting it really well,” Mrs Tochez said.

“I don’t even know how to put it into words like it was (a) really, really emotional time.

Baby Caleb at Queensland Children’s Hospital after he was diagnosed with Covid-19. Supplied by Nicole Tochez

“But then the kind of reassuring thing was that the doctors themselves were not super worried with him actually having it.

“They did a bunch of other tests to rule out that it wasn’t any other kind of virus that newborns can pick up during labour or just after birth, which are a lot worse.

“Emotionally, as soon as they said he’s positive with Covid, it was not fun.”

Caleb and his mother were discharged at around 2pm the day after the bub was admitted to continue their recovery at home.

But after being cleared to return home, the emotional rollercoaster continued.

Just a day and a half after returning to their Rocklea home, flooding forced the family to evacuate.

“It was a couple of days later when we got home with Caleb that we had to evacuate,” Mr Tochez said.

Caleb with his older brother Grayson. Picture: Adam Head

“We live in Rocklea so thankfully we were one of three streets that weren’t affected at all.”

But after blue skies returned to Southeast Queensland, the family were able to go home after five days away.

Mrs Tochez said that she enjoyed being able to celebrate Easter “stress free” after the Covid scare and flood drama.

“It was really nice to have that day in the holidays to spend without any stress around it,” she said.

“It was nice to be able to get that time and enjoy it kind of stress free whereas those first two weeks of his life were just so stressful with the Covid and then (being) evacuated from the floods.”