COVID-19 sufferers reveal ‘this virus is incredibly easy to catch’
Two Victorians who have beaten coronavirus have told how they contracted the disease, what it felt like, how others reacted to their diagnosis and how you can avoid it.
HS Coronavirus News
Don't miss out on the headlines from HS Coronavirus News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A grandmother diagnosed with coronavirus has endured vicious ridicule after being wrongly accused of ignoring isolation orders and going shopping.
Judy Magdziarz, who contracted coronavirus after a cruise holiday, received vile abuse in her home town of Echuca.
One person even said they could catch the virus from her dog. The 68-year-old got the all-clear on Wednesday but still fears being ostracised.
“People don’t go out and catch the disease on purpose,’’ Mrs Magdziarz said.
“Everyone was so wonderful in the bushfires to come and help their fellow Australians. But as soon as they’re threatened it brings out the ugliness in a lot of people.”
Mrs Magdziarz and daughter Summar Sargent boarded the Ovation of the Seas bound for New Caledonia but when coronavirus closed borders the ship returned and they disembarked in Sydney on March 18.
The captain told passengers they didn’t need to isolate because the ship never made it to an international port.
Mrs Magdziarz returned to Echuca where she visited Aldi, Bunnings and Coles over subsequent days.
It wasn’t until March 21 Royal Caribbean emailed passengers to advise a Canadian on board had coronavirus.
Mrs Magdziarz, who of her own accord had gone to hospital about a cough the same day, immediately isolated in a motorhome at the rear of her house.
She was diagnosed three days later — developing headaches and aching joints — and only emerged from quarantine when cleared.
But that didn’t stop taunts she knowingly put the public at risk by going to the shops even though it was before the cruise company raised the alarm.
One perpetrator posted online “I hope you die you b---h” and another told her “Your dog’s got the virus” when it strayed near them.
Some even wrongly claimed her daughter had the virus, posting her photo on social media and warning the public to beware.
“People were very unfair and they never had their facts straight,’’ Mrs Magdziarz said.
“If you throw enough mud it sticks.
“I just feel for all those other people out there with these vicious, malicious, wicked people.
“They need to be more compassionate and more caring — what if it was their mother or aunty or grandmother or father. You don’t go around wishing they will die. They probably will anyway if they’re ill enough — they don’t need people like that hurrying them along.
“I was just lucky I could stick my finger up and say: ‘Up you I’m still here’.”
Ms Sargent, who runs a local hotel, also went into isolation on receiving the cruise company alert.
She and her family tested negative but still copped erroneous abuse.
“They somehow merged the two of us together preaching absolute rubbish that spread faster than the virus,’’ Ms Sargent said.
“Where is the compassion?”
Mrs Magdziarz said gym sessions three times a week were the “saving grace” in making her fit enough to beat coronavirus.
Dear friends also stood by her.
“I feel blessed actually — obviously it’s not my turn,’’ she said.
“The truth be known I’m probably the healthiest person to be around because I’ve had the disease.
“I thought an old sheila at my age — I feel great.
“You feel a little bit invincible.
“There’s nothing I can’t conquer now.”
THIS VIRUS IS INCREDIBLY EASY TO CATCH
Tim Brown welcomed his colleague into his office at the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute with a bow.
It felt like an odd thing to do when the man had no symptoms of coronavirus, but he’d recently arrived from overseas and they were being extra cautious.
It was March 17 and the warnings about COVID-19 were escalating each day.
The Grand Prix was cancelled four days earlier, the AFL had just decided to play 17 rounds in empty stadiums and Australians were that day advised to reconsider overseas travel.
Those arriving on international flights hadn’t yet been asked to self-isolate for 14-days.
Prof Brown, the director at AMSI, and his colleague sat about 1.5m apart and spoke for no longer than 90 minutes.
Later, they would both come down with a fever, be diagnosed with coronavirus and the building they sat in at Melbourne University would be shut down.
“This virus is incredibly easy to catch,” warned Prof Brown.
The night of the meeting, his colleague got a fever and Prof Brown went into isolation.
After three days, he noticed “a subtle difference when I took a long breath in the morning”.
There was also an irritating, intermittent but mild cough.
So he went to get tested — his colleague had returned a positive result the day before.
But Prof Brown’s test came back negative.
He want back again on advice from his doctor.
The second time, a positive result.
His worst symptoms came four days in with shivers and a fever running at a temperature of 38C.
But coronavirus also wreaked havoc with his Type 1 diabetes, forcing him to radically increase his insulin levels with a home pump with guidance from a specialist.
Two weeks on and after a call from DHHS that he was safe to end isolation, Prof Brown went to pick up a lawnmower he had sent for repair.
Staff were nervous and asked him if he had the virus — he offered to show them a letter of release.
“People are understandably fearful because mine has been the benign end of what has been devastating for others,” Prof Brown said.
“A friend in WA suggests the Government should issue smiley-face badges for those who have recovered, because we are the least dangerous to anyone and hopefully have immunity from recontracting the disease.”
He called on the community to heed medical and government advice so people stay safe “even though it has caused such a major disruption to all of us”.
“Spreading out the disease is the only way that this superb medical support can continue to minimise deaths.”
Prof Brown said he felt especially fortunate that his symptoms were mild.
And with a built-up immunity to the virus, he thinks of his colleague as his “benefactor”.
“A big thank you all around,” he said.
MORE NEWS
6000 DOCTORS BACK DRUG TO FIGHT COVID-19