Police use their powers to move people on as COVID crisis continues
Police have begun to show up at crowded places in the Bondi area to give warnings to those not observing tough new laws designed to combat the coronavirus crisis.
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Party-loving backpackers have been singled out in the state’s fight against coronavirus as the state’s 17,000-strong police force patrol beaches, parks and playgrounds to catch people breaching social distancing rules.
It comes as NSW Health announced it would establish a pop-up coronavirus testing site in Bondi where clusters of the disease have emerged.
The department has also ordered doctors across the Waverley Council area to send more patients to be checked for the deadly bug to stop its spread in the community.
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Despite repeated warnings, The Daily Telegraph witnessed dozens of young people flouting social-distancing rules yesterday, including sunbaking in groups on rocks overlooking the sea and using cordoned-off outdoor gyms.
NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant confirmed there had been a spike of the virus among backpackers, many of whom were staying in hostels.
“We know there has been an outbreak (in) backpackers in Bondi,” Dr Chant said. “There is a potential risk that other members of the community may have come in contact with infected backpackers and, as for prudency, we want to increase testing.
“We have had a small number of cases in that community where there aren't obvious links, but a plausible explanation is they have come in contact with an infected backpacker before that backpacker was aware they had COVID-19.”
There were 2032 cases of the bug in NSW yesterday, an increase of 114 on the previous day. The death toll remained at eight.
Waverley Council, which takes in Bondi, had 140 cases — the highest of any Sydney local government area and up 33 per cent since last Thursday. Crucially, there were 21 cases in Waverley with an unknown source of infection.
The numbers also showed 432 people infected in NSW were aged 20-29, the highest of any age cohort.
NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said police could use CCTV cameras to identify where people were breaking the social distancing laws at parks and send police to fine them.
He said this could be done from the NSW Health hub at Homebush.
He also revealed people were calling CrimeStoppers to dob in their neighbours for ignoring the rules.
Yesterday, police enforced the rules in Coogee, telling two men to sit further apart on a park bench and a couple to stand further apart.
At Rushcutters Bay five police cars drove into the park, stopping to talk with anyone who was not exercising.
One officer told a man to stop sunbaking and asked him to leave.
Mr Fuller said police were focused on education and warnings this week and had yet to issue any fines.
“We are using our power of discretion reasonably,” he said.
NSW Health had singled out Bondi backpackers on March 22, pointing to two raves where infected people attended: the Boogie Wonderland party at the Bucket List in Bondi and Club 77 in Darlinghurst, both on March 15.
More than 20 people were infected after attending the Boogie rave.
Professor Bev Biggs, an infectious diseases expert who consults for the World Health Organisation, said there could be a spike among backpackers because they share dormitories and kitchens. “Anywhere you’ve got clusters of people grouping together and not keeping their 1.5 metres apart and using shared implements — there’s a high risk because it’s extremely infectious,” she said.