Melbourne couple who contracted coronavirus share what it was like

A Melbourne couple who were among the first in the country to be diagnosed with COVID-19 have spoken out about what having coronavirus was like.

Annette, 62, and John, 74, came down with the virus shortly after a holiday to Egypt.

“We had a fantastic holiday and we got back to Australia and had no direction from the government,” Annette told 3AW’s Dee Dee.

“We just lived our normal lives for a couple of days and then on the Saturday night we had been out to an invitation event and when we got home some people that were on our cruise sent us an email saying ‘have you heard about the coronavirus on the cruise on the Nile?’

“We were tired from a holiday, we had a little bit of a cold but no more than you would normally get from any holiday you’ve been on … we weren’t overly concerned but we thought we’d better get it checked out.”

Initially only John, who is battling prostate cancer, tested positive for coronavirus, but Annette tested positive a day later.

Neither of the pair had a temperature, but both were lethargic, had a dry cough and lost their appetite.

Annette urged caution, but said John’s experience shows contracting the virus isn’t necessarily a death sentence, even if you’re immuno-compromised.

“I just want people to know that … it’s not a death sentence. You can have it and you can have an underlying illness and still be okay, from my experience,” she said.

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