The trip of a lifetime to Europe, three years in the planning, turned pear-shaped rather rapidly for Lindenow local, Aaron ‘Lovey’ Love, as European borders were shut and flights became hard to get during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Once home, he completed a drivethrough test at Bairnsdale Hospital which confirmed he had the virus, the only case in East Gippsland at the time of print.
“We’d heard about the virus in China before we left but thought it was contained,” Mr Love said.
He believes he suffered symptoms of the virus while in Vienna, Austria.
“I felt sick over there about two weeks prior to getting back.
“It just felt like I wasn’t running on all four cylinders, I felt flat, had a teperature. It lasted from the afternoon into the evening then I had a good sleep and I felt a lot better.
“Not that I knew what it was, I actually thought it might’ve been all the alcohol we were consuming.”
Mr Love left Australia on February 26 with two cousins, traveling to Munich, Germany, then skiing the alps of Austria for a week, to Salzburg, Vienna and to Budapest.
“We were about to leave for Slovakia but the border shut,” Mr Love said.
“It just shut, bang, it was closed. We couldn’t get a bus or a train.”
The cousins likened trying to get home to The Amazing Race TV series.
“We eventually got a flight to Warsaw and to Prague, our flight was delayed by a day but thank God we got on it.”
It took 40 hours travelling time but eventually the cousins flew in to Canberra and Mr Love got in his car at the airport and drove straight home to Lindenow.
Interestingly, one of his cousins tested positive for the virus but the other didn’t.
Mr Love, who self-isolated at home for the required 14 days, admits he’s been treated a little like a leper but says he has a certificate to say he is clear of the virus.
“It’s not that bad, I can understand people’s reactions but I’m just getting on with things,” he said.
“It’s a bit tough, the people who know have been keeping their distance or have called me and have been fairly anxious but I’ve done what the government has told me to do.”
IMAGE: East Gippsland’s sole corona virus case to date, Aaron Love, who tested positive to COVID-19 on his return from a European holiday. (PS)
