Fit and healthy teacher who contracted Covid at the footy and lost 15kg in intensive care reveals his harrowing fight for life as Victoria's case numbers soar - all active in the community
Richard Murgatroyd 27 days after he caught Covid at an AFL game at the MCG
A Melbourne teacher just released from intensive care after testing positive for COVID-19 has spoken about his harrowing ordeal, admitting he thought he was going to die.
Richard Murgatroyd, 51, who works at Bacchus Marsh Grammar, about an hour north-west of Melbourne, caught the Delta variant after he went to a footy game at the MCG with a friend on July 10 - a day Victoria had zero cases.
After going to the Carlton v Geelong match, he said he felt fine and went to work on the following Monday but on the Tuesday he noticed a tickle in the back of his throat.
Mr Murgatroyd, who had received one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, went to get a Covid test as a precaution and while waiting in line his footy mate told him his apartment building had been listed as an exposed venue.
The Ariele Apartments in Maribyrnong had been visited by two Covid infected removalists from Sydney. The residents in the apartments were plunged into isolation for 14 days during the state's fifth lockdown.
Mr Murgatroyd said on day seven of the virus, he had to call an ambulance and was transferred to hospital where he was put into intensive care.
'I was really scared because I couldn't breathe. I couldn't get my breath back, so I knew it wasn't good,' he told ABC radio.
His first two days in the ICU were a fog and on the second night he was gripped with fear that he would die in hospital.
'A doctor about 3am in the morning held my hand and looked me in the eye and said: "You're strong enough. We'll get you through this".'
He said despite being healthy and going to the gym regularly, the virus had wiped him out.
In addition to losing 15kg, he said the simple task of pulling himself up from the bed requires at least a few minutes to recover and catch his breath.
Mr Murgatroyd said he struggled to comprehend going from being at the AFL game to fighting for his life.
'10 days later I was in intensive care. The sheer random nature of it,' he said.
The fit and healthy teacher (pictured before Covid) said he was shocked at how 'random' the virus was and urged the public to get vaccinated as soon as they were able
Mr Murgatroyd works at Bacchus Marsh Grammar and his case sparked an alert for the school
His harrowing story comes as Victoria's Covid cases soared to 29 on Saturday, all of them active in the community while infected.
The sharp increase in numbers - compared to just six on Friday - prompted fears that Melbourne was on the same course as Sydney, where cases have gone past 200 a day and lockdown has been in place for six weeks with at least another three to come.
Contact tracers are racing to get ahead of the Hobsons Bay and Maribyrnong clusters.
Health officials are concerned the virus might have already escaped the western suburbs with fragments being found in sewage in the eastern suburbs of Balwyn, Camberwell, Canterbury, Mont Albert and Surrey Hills.
'Anyone who lives, works or has visited the above suburbs in Melbourne's east between 26 July and 4 August is urged to watch for the slightest of Covid-19 symptoms and get tested as soon as possible if any symptoms develop,' Vic Health said.
Covid testing commander, Jeroen Weimar, warned the number of exposure sites will continue to rise.
'We did not go into lockdown because we were worried about a few cases in the western suburbs,' he said on Friday.
'We're worried that it might be seeding out quite widely; we're worried it might be going to places we haven't yet seen.'
Victoria has been promised another 150,000 Pfizer vaccine doses by the Federal Government within the next month to help deal with the latest outbreak and its sixth lockdown.
He caught the virus from a friend who lives in the Ariele apartments, which were placed into isolation in mid-July
The apartment building was exposed after two removalists with Covid attended units there
Breakdown of new Vic Delta outbreaks
HOBSONS BAY CLUSTER - FIVE CASES
* A female teacher in her 20s at Al-Taqwa College in Truganina. She is thought to be the index case and lives in Hobsons Bay with her husband.
* Husband of teacher, a man in his 20s who works at Caroline Springs optometrist and plays for Newport Football Club.
* Three family members of the man, all live in a different house in Hobsons Bay. Two of three cases previously announced.
CITY OF MARIBYRNONG CLUSTER - FOUR CASES
* A man in his 20s who lives in the Maribyrnong area and works at a factory in Derrimut. He is the index case.
* His housemate who worked as a contracted cleaner at Richmond's Epworth Hospital
* Two contacts of index case from another household in Wyndham Vale, including a student at Warringa Park specialist school in Hoppers Crossing
At least 10,000 primary and secondary contacts are in isolation in Victoria.
A female teacher in her 20s at Al-Taqwa College in Truganina is thought to be the original transmitter in the Hobsons Bay outbreak which is now at five cases.
A man in his 20s who works at a factory in Derrimut is thought to be the first infectious person in the Maribyrnong cluster, which has grown to four cases.
'Victoria is in a precarious position when it comes to where this particular series of outbreaks are,' Health Minister Martin Foley said on Friday.
'It is in all of our hands. We have driven down this Delta variant and we can do it again.'
An alarming 10 new high-risk exposure sites were listed by Victorian health officials on Friday including two schools, a medical centre, a pathology clinic and a leisure centre.
Patients who visited the Active Medical Centre in Caroline Springs on August 2 between the hours of 2.15pm - 3.40pm must immediately get tested and quarantine for 14 days.
The same rules apply for anyone who attended Dorevitch Pathology Collection in Caroline Springs on August 2 between 2.15pm and 3.40pm.
Anybody who visited Bayfit Leisure Centre in Altona North on August 2 between 8.54am and 10.30am must also get tested - including anyone who entered the 25m swimming pool from 8.55am to 10.15am or the female changerooms from 9.45am to 10.30am.
All three venues are Tier 1 exposure sites which means those who visited the locations during the times listed must immediately isolate, and quarantine for 14 days from the date of exposure.
Contact tracers are on Friday chasing the movements of a man aged in his 20s from Maribyrnong, in north-west Melbourne, after he tested positive to Covid-19 (pictured are Melbourne residents on Friday)
Bayfit Leisure Centre's 25m swimming pool and female change rooms have also been listed as Tier 1 exposure sites in Victoria
VICTORIA'S NEW EXPOSURE SITES
Anyone who has visited a Tier 1 exposure site during the times listed must immediately isolate, get a COVID-19 test, and quarantine for 14 days from the date of exposure.
Altona North - Bayfit Leisure Centre - Anyone who entered the pool or used women's change rooms - August 2 between 8:54am and 10:30am
Caroline Springs - Active Medical Centre - August 2 between 2:15pm and 3:40pm
Caroline Springs - Dorevitch Pathology Collection - August 2 between 2:15pm and 3:40pm
Anyone who has visited a Tier 2 exposure site during times listed should urgently get a COVID-19 test and isolate until they receive a negative result.
Altona North - Bayfit Leisure Centre - August 2 between 8:54am and 10:30am
Hoppers Crossing - Warringa Park School - August 4 between 8:30am and 4pm
Hoppers Crossing - Warringa Park School - August 5 between 8:30am and 4pm
Hoppers Crossing - Warringa Park School - August 3 between 8:30am and 4pm
Werribee - Heathdale Christian College - August 5 between 8:30am and 4pm
Werribee - Heathdale Christian College - August 4 between 8:30am and 4pm
Werribee - Heathdale Christian College - August 3 between 8:30am and 4pm
Tarneit - Oporto in Tarneit Shopping Centre - August 2 between 5:30pm and 6:30pm
Tarneit - Western Fresh Fruit & Veg - Wyndham Village Shopping Centre - August 3 between 4:15pm and 4:45pm
Tarneit - Aldi - August 4 between 4:45pm and 5:30pm
Tarneit - Coles - Tarneit Shopping Centre - August 2 between 6:25pm and 6:55pm
Truganina - United Petroleum - August 2 between 5:10pm and 5:40pm
A large ball of fire is captured in the background as chaotic anti-lockdown protests erupted in Melbourne on Thursday night with hundreds taking to the streets
Several Tier 2 exposure sites were added for locations in Werribee, Hoppers Crossing and Altona North.
Anyone who visited Heathdale Christian College (Werribee Campus) between August 3 to August 5 between the hours of 8.30am and 4.00pm must get tested urgently and self isolate until they receive a negative result.
The same rules apply after a positive case also attended Warringa Park School (Warringa Crescent Campus) on August 3 to August 5 between the hours of 8.30am and 4.00pm.
This comes as a gathering that involved family members who had just left New South Wales quarantine is being investigated as a possible cause of the latest outbreak in Victoria.
Contact tracers are probing the movements of a man aged in his 20s from Maribyrnong, in northwest Melbourne, after he tested positive to Covid-19.
Health authorities believe he could have caught the virus after meeting with relatives who had recently been cleared from quarantine in NSW.
'It may well be the case that they've been visited, against the rules, by a positive case,' Premier Daniel Andrews said.
If the link can be confirmed it will mark the second time the virus has escaped from NSW - since its latest outbreak began on June 16 - and forced Victoria into a snap lockdown.