Coronavirus: Bay Run show of force over COVID-19 fears
Police have been out in force at one of the city’s most popular outdoor recreation spots over fears it could become a new COVID-19 epicentre. Mounted police kept crowds apart as senior officers warned the area could be closed off to the public.
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Cops in Sydney’s inner west have come out in force at a popular running spot over fears it could become another Bondi as the city battles the coronavirus pandemic.
Officers from the Burwood command and the mounted unit descended on the Bay Run in droves on Thursday morning amid concerns of growing crowds and a lack of adherence to social distancing guidelines.
Locals have for the past month been complaining about the swell of people brazenly ignoring health advice and Canada Bay and Inner West Councils have both threatened to close it off over the “concerning reports”.
It is understood rangers have been reporting that most of those on the Bay Run have come from other parts of Sydney.
“We don’t want that (another rise in cases like Bondi),” Burwood Crime Manager Chief Inspector Ian Pryde said.
“We’ve had a lot of complaints from people in the area and around the walk about a lack of social distancing and people breaching the minister’s direction.”
Chief Insp Pryde said officers would continue the high visibility operation over the next coming weeks on the popular running route.
“The last thing we want to do is close down these areas, we don’t want to do that but people have to play by the rules … we’re getting a lot of people using it, in a similar fashion to what was happening at Bondi and Coogee over on the eastern beaches.
“We’re not looking to issue penalties we’re trying to treat people fairly and 90 per cent are doing great but some people are pushing it.”
The inner west of Sydney has seen a large number of cases going before hospitals in the Sydney Local Health District since the first person to bring coronavirus to NSW from Wuhan to Burwood was diagnosed on January 22.
NSW Health reported on Tuesday morning only an additional five more people have contracted the virus in the last 24 hours, bringing the total in the state up top 2976.
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