Warrnambool couple Ian and Julie Pech on experience with COVID-19

As he was monitored by the weary but tenacious medical team who had been working on the region's COVID-19 ward for almost two years, he was astounded to find he was the only positive patient who had been fully vaccinated.

"I do feel very strongly that if I'd not been vaccinated that I certainly would have been sicker," Mr Pech said.

"I spent a night in the COVID ward in Geelong and out of the 35 people there I think I was the only double-vaccinated person, and I was there for observation just to check that my chest pains weren't anything serious and they weren't; they were just a symptom of coughing a lot."

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His wife Julie first contracted the virus after developing symptoms while looking after their grandchild. With both parents working at Barwon Health she was quick to get even the smallest symptoms checked.

A few days later, Mr Pech tested positive.

"When you get a COVID-positive test, one of the hard things is thinking about who else you might have passed it on to and wondering about the possible impact on their lives. It's often close family and friends who are most likely to be affected," he said.

"The two households of our children had to quarantine for a week and thankfully they all tested negative. Friends who we had contact with also tested negative.

"While you're sick the isolation is difficult mentally and physically. Julie had seven days virtually locked in the bedroom before I tested positive.

"The headaches have been the most prevalent thing, along with fatigue, nausea and a bad cough.

"We've both had some difficulty breathing. It is a little daunting when you wake up in the middle of the night and you're breathing hard and think, what's it going to be like by the morning?

"A couple of days I've needed to just lie in bed and sleep or rest with no energy and no inclination to do anything else."

After getting a second dose of AstraZeneca in August the couple are looking forward to getting their booster.

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"My motivation for it was not as much for my own protection but to be mindful of those around me in the community who are vulnerable that maybe I would pass it on to if I was infected," said Mr Pech, who also suffers from asthma.

"That was the reason that I decided to have the vaccination as soon as it was available to me.

"As it turns out, it was a very good protection for me as well because I believe that I would have been much sicker as I'm a little bit prone to picking up colds and things."

Since being cleared by the Health Department this week, the former managing editor of The Standard has shared his experience with COVID-19 in the hopes to educate others and break the stigma around the virus that has swept the globe over the last two years.

"I didn't really know anybody - none of my close circle of friends or acquaintances - who had it until my wife got it, and then I got it," he said.

"It was surreal and actually a bit of a shock, but now I know at least half a dozen people with it.

"There is an aspect of the unknown that you face when you get this disease.

"It's good to know that if you are up to date with the vaccinations you're unlikely to get really ill and unlikely to go to hospital the way I did and if you do, you're probably not going to be there for very long - I was just there overnight."

Over the last two weeks the remote patient monitoring team at South West Healthcare was in touch twice a day to monitor the couple's symptoms while in isolation.

While their care has been exemplary, Geelong remains the closest hospital in the region to admit COVID-19 patients.

"I really don't understand the situation with our healthcare," Mr Pech said.

"No one's exactly told me what the reason is, but I know that all the cases whether you're in Portland or Hamilton you go to Geelong hospital if you've got any complications or anything they want to check out if you are COVID positive.

"That was just all I needed, just a simple X-ray and monitoring of my breathing and those sorts of things.

"But the staff have been fantastic so I really couldn't fault the way that they handled the situation."

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