Single mum secures court’s approval to lodge Covid-related claim

A Geelong mum likely to permanently suffer from the effects of Covid can now legally apply for damages for pain and suffering after catching it at an aged care home.

Angie Shrimpton with her daughter Imogen who also contracted Covid after the former brought the virus from her workplace.

A single mum who continues to suffer from Covid nearly four years after catching it at Geelong aged care home has won a legal battle to launch proceedings for pain and suffering.

Geelong mum of two Angie Shrimpton caught Covid within two days of starting work at the Opal South Valley Aged Care Home in August 2020.

Eight residents of the Covid-ravaged facility in Highton died after contracting the virus, and dozens of infections were recorded among residents and staff.

Ms Shrimpton is among many patients for whom the effects of Covid is lingering for far longer than their time in quarantine.

Alongside her irritated lungs, she battles stress incontinence, meaning she loses urine when she coughs, sneezes or laughs, and is also experiencing symptoms that includes a persistent cough, shortness of breath, a sore throat, nasal drip, fatigue, and headaches.

Angie Shrimpton can now launch legal proceedings for pain and suffering as a result of Covid.

The Belmont resident also dealt with the trauma of bringing the virus from the Highton facility into her own home that resulted in her two children, Imogen Shrimpton-Heyne, 14, and Jay Shrimpton, 16, becoming infected.

Ms Shrimpton applied in County Court for leave to bring proceedings for pain and suffering damages on the grounds that she has suffered a permanent serious impairment of a “body function”.

The Victorian Workcover Authority opposed her application, saying no single impairment that Ms Shrimpton suffered was sufficiently serious to pass the serious injury threshold.

The consensus of expert medical opinion is that she is suffering from long Covid syndrome and that it is likely her symptoms will continue indefinitely.

Judge My Anh Tran agreed with the expert medical opinion and said as a result of long Covid syndrome, Ms Shrimpton has suffered a permanent serious impairment of her immune system.

Paramedics at Opal South Valley where Angie Shrimpton contracted Covid back in 2020. Picture: Peter Ristevski

While it was plain from the reports of medical experts that much was not yet known about long Covid syndrome, its impacts, causes and prognosis, the Judge said Ms Shrimpton understandably did not wish to wait for scientific certainty.

“Nor should she be required to, so long as she is able to satisfy the court, on the balance of probabilities, that she has suffered a serious long-term impairment of a body function,” Judge Tran said.