‘RECKLESS BEHAVIOUR’: Health expert slams partygoers

PUBLIC health expert says there is no excuse for ignoring COVID-19 measures or pretending not to know about the virus

COMMUNITY RISK: Police have slammed the behaviour of partygoers in a Northern Rivers town for breaching COVID-19 restrictions.

PARTY goers at a house in Mullumbimby on the weekend, who ignored COVID-19 restrictions, had left "their fate to the wind", according to a leading health expert.

Public Health Director Paul Corben described their actions as "reckless behaviour".

About 2.45am on Saturday, officers from Tweed/Byron Police District were called to a house party on Melaleuca Drive, Mullumbimby Creek.

Police witnessed a large number of people inside and outside the house, none of whom were appropriately physically distancing themselves from each other.

The 53-year-old male resident, who was issued a $1000 public infringement notice as a result, told police he was aware there were too many people at the party, but wasn't worried because he believed coronavirus was just a flu.

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"It's very disappointing that people choose to ignore these warnings," Mr Corben said.

"To somehow imagine they are immune from this virus, and that their friends are immune, or their grandmother, or other people they share their lives with, that they are immune as well.

"The rules are there to protect all of us and the police have an active role in enforcing those rules."

Mr Corben said there was no excuse for suggesting people might not be aware of coronavirus "when we have all been living in these conditions for many months".

"It is the success of the physical distancing and other measures in place that have kept the numbers in NSW relatively low," he said.

"But that can change very quickly, as we have seen in other states and other parts of the world where people choose to ignore those directions and, if you like, leave their fate to the wind."