Editorial: Covid rule breakers need more than slap on the wrist

The latest example of a man deliberately flouting quarantine rules shows Queensland needs to be harsher when dealing with covidiots putting us at risk, writes The Editor. VOTE IN OUR POLL

The current system of slapping those who deliberately flout quarantine rules on the wrist with a paltry fine is clearly not enough of a deterrent.

The latest example involves a man who is the “missing link” to the Qantas flight attendant from Banyo who has tested positive to the Delta strain, leaving South East Queensland on edge.

Not only did this man have no right to leave locked-down Sydney, he should have been confined to his home, having been a close contact of a positive case.

On top of that, when authorities rang to check on him, he lied and said he was at home in Sydney, when he was in fact in Queensland.

The Qantas flight attendant picked up the man just across the border at Ballina Airport on July 14 (how he got on a plane is anyone’s guess). The pair then went on a whistlestop tour of Brisbane and the Gold Coast, potentially spreading the virus to Dreamworld, the Koi Broadbeach restaurant, Woolworths and BWS at Banyo, Chemist Warehouse at Virginia, Westfield Chermside, the busy Sandstone Point Hotel north of Brisbane, and the Sundowner Hotel at Caboolture.

Dreamworld was listed as an exposure site. Picture: Supplied

Despite this, the flight attendant initially told contact tracers that she had been “essentially” at her Brisbane home from July 13 until her positive test last Wednesday.

Although chief health officer Jeannette Young said the woman had committed no offence when she picked the man up at the airport, questions about her level of co-operation remain.

However, the maximum fine for breaching Queensland’s public health orders is $4000, although more typical fines range from $1000 to $1300.

We are now at a stage in the pandemic that no-one can argue that they don’t understand the seriousness of the threat we face, or claim ignorance about the reasons we are enduring restrictions to our normal daily lives to combat the spread.

We have already seen many cases where people who break the rules are being fined just $1000 for intentional acts that have a domino effect for the rest of society, who become infected with the virus or suffer lost earnings while they isolate, or both.

As we have seen with how the NSW outbreak spread to Melbourne and Adelaide, these acts can lead to millions of people being forced into lockdown.

Some businesses do not survive.

The hard border and long queues returned to the Qld NSW border on the Gold Coast during the latest Sydney outbreak. Picture Glenn Hampson

Mental health suffers, and the health implications can be catastrophic.

Last month, we saw the case of a 44-year-old Melbourne woman and her 48-year-old partner who skipped Melbourne’s lockdown and later tested positive to
Covid-19 on the Sunshine Coast.

They were fined $5000 by Queensland and NSW police for breaches. Of this $4000 was for lying on their Queensland border declaration passes and $1000 for making an unlawful pit-stop at a Dubbo cinema during their road trip to the Sunshine Coast.

It’s time we gave those thinking of flouting the rules something to think about. Perhaps appearing before a judge in court on criminal charges and the possibility of spending a few nights in jail – plus a hefty fine – might make selfish covidiots think twice before leaving a lockdown area and placing others at risk of catching the virus, and triggering lockdowns affecting millions of blameless people.