COVID in WA: Boxer Daniel ‘The Rock’ Dawson gets virus twice in six weeks

Daniel “The Rock” Dawson made history in 2013 to become the first Australian ever to hold world titles in Muay Thai boxing, kick-boxing and boxing. He’s fit, he’s vaxxed and he’s just had COVID twice in six weeks.

With WA hitting a new peak of infections multiple times in the past week, it may seem like nearly everyone you know has the Rona.

But, if there’s a silver lining for those who’ve caught COVID, it’s the long-held idea that doing so provides a so-called “natural immunity”.

Certainly, the State Government’s public health measures assume that, with people who have contracted COVID not bound by close contact restrictions for three months.

However Dawson, a father of three and owner of the Legends Academy boxing gym, had a very different experience.

After catching COVID six weeks ago, he and his family were shocked to see a positive RAT result when he tested himself a few days ago.

And the second bout has proven to be much worse than the first.

Meanwhile, COVID case numbers are continuing to explode in WA, with a new daily record of 12,390 infections detected on Tuesday and six deaths. Hospitalisations, too, are on the rise with a record 286 COVID positive patients in hospital, including eight in ICU.

WA’s case numbers were the second highest in the country on Tuesday, with only Victoria reporting more (12,722 cases).

There were another six deaths in WA dating back to April 11: two women in their 80s, a man in his 80s, a man in his 70s and two women in their 60s.

And, active cases breached the 60,000 mark for the first time, less than two weeks after most COVID restrictions were removed.

Listen to Daniel Dawson’s story in The West Live link above.