Backpackers free to leave Aquarius hostel in Byron Bay from December 1
81 staff and guests were forced into a snap lockdown after a woman visiting tested positive to Covid-19.
Byron Shire
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Guests and staff at Byron Bay’s Aquarius Backpackers can now leave their quarantine stations from following a snap lockdown last Wednesday.
Northern NSW Local Health District Chief Executive Wayne Jones confirmed that all Covid-19 tests for close contacts associated with the hostel returned negative results.
“As a result, the seven-day isolation period for fully vaccinated contacts will finish at midnight on Tuesday 30 November,” he said.
It is unclear whether some of them will move out at midnight, with most of them expected to leave the hostel on Wednesday morning.
81 guests and staff became close contacts after a female guest who was also working at the venue tested positive for Covid-19.
A “stop and stay” order on the venue led to everyone inside being tested for Covid-19 on Thursday.
The vast majority of the 81 people were double-vaccinated and all tested negative to Covid-19.
All were told to stay in their room for most of the day to avoid possible cross-contamination.
But the news were not welcome by many guests who were unhappy about the fact the rooms accommodated up to five people.
English traveller Michael Nash, 27, who was due to leave the hostel the day the lockdown was imposed, said the stay at the hostel was “a waste of time”.
Tweed Byron Police District officer Detective Chief Inspector Matt Kehoe said an operation to contain a possible Covid outbreak was not expected to hinder Schoolies celebrations.
He also said he did not believe any schoolies were staying at Aquarius when the incident started.
On Friday, Northern NSW Local Health District set up a special area at the Lismore Showgrounds with 17 motorhomes for close contacts in the Northern Rivers in need of a safe place to stay.
By Monday, there were fewer than 50 people actually staying at the Aquarius, after some of them were transferred to Lismore and other locations.
Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Jones confirmed forty-one of Lismore Base Hospital’s theatre staff are self-isolating and getting tested for Covid-19 after they were exposed outside the work environment.
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