The mum said the couple shared their story to help other parents. Photo / Facebook
The mum said the couple shared their story to help other parents. Photo / Facebook
A mother whose two children contracted Covid-19 has sent a message to parents saying reports that kids are less affected by coronavirus aren't reliable.
Bettina Rowley told 7.30 Australia she ended up in an isolation ward with her two children after they were both hospitalised with Covid-19, after both developing symptoms in the space of a few hours.
The family live in Fussen, a German town near the Austrian border and previously lived on the Australian Sunshine Coast.
Her children, Charlotte, 5 and Frederick, 3, developed symptoms in less than a day, suddenly taking ill, and recording fevers of more than 40C at night.
She said just hours before, the two children had been playing happily outdoors. Within 24 hours both had also developed dry coughs, and she was alarmed.
She wondered if they had coronavirus but told herself "surely not".
She contacted her doctor and the children were tested and within 48 hours the test result confirmed the children had contracted the Covid-19.
She said she became panicked by their symptoms, as their fevers became uncontrollable and they both stopped drinking water.
"On that day when they were positive, the health authorities called us and I said, 'Look, I don't know what to do. I can't control their temperatures. They are starting to drink less and less'."
She was then advised to take Charlotte and Frederick to hospital.
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In the hospital, Rowley was allowed to self-isolate in a hospital room with her children.
She said Charlotte stopped being able to taste and blood tests revealed both children's immune systems had been destroyed.
The hospital staff also taught Rowley how to operate the medical equipment in the room, telling her "we don't want to come in, only in [an] absolute emergency".
"As a mum you're just like oh, my gosh," she said.
"They are always saying kids don't get sick. Now you are in hospital with both of your kids. You feel very, very lonely. Yeah. Very scared."
Luckily both her children have now recovered from the virus.
Rowley said she has since been thinking about where they could have contracted the virus, saying she hasn't been able to figure it out.
She said Charlotte and Frederick had still been attending kindergarten before the shutdowns happened across the country.
