Woman pregnant with twins in intensive care on ventilator with COVID-19 as death toll is set to soar

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A husband has urged people to take COVID-19 health directives seriously as his heavily pregnant wife fights for life in hospital – and experts warn more people will die.

Kaillee Dyke is 27 weeks pregnant with twins and on a ventilator in the intensive care unit at Royal Melbourne Hospital after she contracted coronavirus.

Ms Dyke caught the deadly respiratory virus along with her partner, Chris Lassig, despite taking every precaution possible.

But while Mr Lassig fully recovered within two weeks of contracting the illness, the mother-to-be wasn’t so lucky.

Mr Lassig shared footage of Ms Dyke struggling to breathe last Saturday, shortly before she was rushed to hospital via ambulance.

They immediately put her on oxygen and transferred her to the intensive care unit. Ms Dyke has now been in intensive care for eight days, and is sedated. 

She is one of 28 Victorians who remain in intensive care battling COVID-19.

There are 130 people from Victoria in hospital with the virus, and on Sunday, the state identified a further 363 cases and three deaths from the disease.

Since the state’s second outbreak gained momentum almost a month ago, 110 vulnerable nursing home residents have contracted the virus. Experts fear up to 40 of them will likely die as a result of complications related to COVID-19.

Federal Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck told The Australian based on national figures, Victoria’s death toll would likely soar.

‘If you look at this nationally the mortality rate [for the elderly] is about 37 per cent, so 35 to 40 out of 100 [in residential aged care] who have the virus won’t survive,’ he said.

‘It’s much higher in these settings [nursing homes] because the people are there for a reason, with comorbidities that make them more vulnerable to the virus.’

Meanwhile Ms Dyke is making ‘slow progress’, but has started breathing more on her own while the machine acts as a ‘back up’, Mr Lassig said.

The improvements have been promising, medics said.   

‘It’s now a matter of waiting until her lungs have healed enough to work on their own,’ Ms Lassig told friends and family.

‘The doctors say with COVID-19 it’s very hard to predict, but hopefully it’ll be soon.’ 

Mr Lassig also shared an ultrasound picture of the couple’s unborn twins.

In the photo, one of the twins appeared to be kicking Ms Dyke. 

‘We don’t know which one is in this picture, but from how lively they were I’m guessing it’s the girl and she takes after her mother,’ Ms Lassig revealed.

‘In case you haven’t heard we’re having both a boy and a girl. Surprise!’

He explained the picture was extra blurry because he was forced to screenshot it from a video call, which was set up through a window to look at the monitor inside Ms Dyke’s isolated hospital room.  

Because of the infection, Ms Dyke is not allowed visitors. Not even her partner has been granted access to her room.

The intensive care staff are also selective about when they go into her room, and only do so when absolutely necessary.

Mr Lassig said staff are doing the best they can, and keep he and the couple’s family updated via telehealth.  

‘Still, it’s very difficult not being able to be there with her, and spending the days waiting by the phone.’

He said: ‘It’s still not clear whether the virus hit her so hard because of the pregnancy, or whether it’s just a bit of bad luck.’

The couple still don’t know how they even contracted the virus.

They don’t know a single other person who has tested positive, and both thought they were being cautious.  

‘To me, that shows how difficult it is to protect yourself as an individual, and so it’s only by acting together that we can beat it,’ he said.

Mr Lassig said before Ms Dyke got too sick, she expressed her concern about people choosing not to follow government directives.

‘I asked Kaillee what advice she’d give and she said ‘if the government is going to say to wear masks, then just do it. They’re not overreacting with the measures that they’ve put in place, they’re clearly there for a reason”,’ he said.

‘And… anybody can get it.’  

In response to the growing concerns over the scope of the virus, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced he would make face masks mandatory in the state’s worst affected areas: metropolitan Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire.

Those who disobey the new government directive – effective from 11.59pm on Wednesday – will face a $200 fine. 

Authorities in New South Wales also urged residents in coronavirus-stricken communities to consider wearing a face mask.

It will not be enforced in the state, but it is not yet clear if directives will continue to change as cases spread throughout the state.

A further six cases of coronavirus have been diagnosed and linked to a cluster at the Batemans Bay Soldiers Club on the south coast of New South Wales.

New South Wales Health confirmed six new cases of COVID-19 had been linked to the club after a father and son dined at the bistro while infectious on July 13. 

The total cluster currently stands at eight, but there are fears more people could have been infected. 

Authorities are still in the process of contact tracing and speaking with all staff and patrons who attended the venue between 7pm and 9.30pm last Monday. 

They have urged anyone who dined on Monday July 13, and between Wednesday July 15 and Friday July 17, to self isolate for 14 days.

Patrons are urged to also present for testing at a COVID-19 clinic. 

Even if they test negative, people are still encouraged to self isolate for the full two-week period and monitor for the onset of any symptoms.

A pop up testing clinic was opened at the Hanging Rock Oval Car Park (near the function centre) on Beach Road in Batemans Bay to encourage locals to get tested.

The clinic will remain open from 9:00am to 2:00pm until further notice.

The man and his teenage son also visited McDonald’s in Albion Park before testing positive this weekend. 

The news comes after NSW Health reported an additional 18 new cases of COVID-19 earlier on Sunday, including four where the origin of the infection is unknown, sparking fears of a wider outbreak. 

Five of the latest infections were in hotel quarantine, but one of new locally-acquired cases attended Holy Duck! restaurant in Chippendale.

The trendy inner-city restaurant closed for cleaning after the person dined there between 7.15pm and 9.30pm on July 10.

Anyone who was there during that time is ordered to self-isolate for 14 days (until July 24) and get tested as soon as possible.

Close contacts are being identified from the restaurants logs and contacted, but anyone who was there is urged to come forward immediately.

Another infected person visited the Anytime Fitness Gym in Merrylands on July 14 from 9pm to 10.30 pm.

NSW Health advised anyone who may have gone to those venues on the same day to self-isolate for up to two weeks and get tested if any symptoms occur.