Covid warning – protect yourself and your community

With Bass Coast averaging 56 new cases a day over the past fortnight, some local residents are sharing their Covid experiences, as a warning to others to protect themselves.

Mim Kershaw is grateful she was tripled vaxxed.

The Bass Coast Health Board Member and Phillip Island resident said she has never felt lingering lethargy and insomnia like that caused by COVID-19.

And that’s nearly a month after catching the virus.

Without being triple vaxxed, she fears her symptoms would have been far worse.

“Covid hit us hard and fast,” Mim said.

As a Board Director, Mim knew of the intricate details of the impact Covid is having on the community.

She hears about the policies, the numbers, the strategy and the toll it has taken on the Bass Coast Health (BCH) team who have been front and centre for more than two years.

She said she had heard the BCH team talk about the impact Covid can have on normally healthy people, but didn’t quite understand just how impacting it was until she suffered the disease herself.

Mim and her husband Derrick caught Covid in early March at a cinema near Queenscliff.

“No-one was wearing masks but everyone was seated with two seat gaps between them,” she said.

“We were on a brief holiday and our daughter and two grandchildren were joining us for the Labour Day long weekend.

“A day after we came home my husband became unwell with a sore throat, aches and pains and coughs. He tested positive to Covid and was very unwell. He suffered coughing fits that caused severe chest pain.”

Each day after, another of Mim’s family tested positive to Covid. Mim’s experience shows how quickly it can spread within families.

“We feel very guilty that we impacted our family so severely,” she said.

She said Covid has prevented the family from returning to life as usual; they simply do not have the energy.

But they are grateful their vaccines were up to date to lessen the symptoms and impact.

“The message to everyone is get vaccinated, keep wearing masks and stay safe to protect family,

community and our precious healthcare personnel.”

Victorian health authorities warn the current wave is expected to peak in mid to late April, coinciding with Easter and the school holidays, when a fresh influx of visitors is expected in the area.

Over the past fortnight, daily cases numbers for Phillip Island and San Remo have hovered between 85 and 146, and overall case numbers in the shire have more than doubled since the start of March.