Warriewood COVID testing: Vandals who disrupted vital pop-up clinic labelled as ‘grubs’
Police are asking for the public’s help to catch vandals who disrupted public testing in one of Sydney’s COVID hot zones.
Manly
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Police are urging anyone who has information about senseless vandals who repeatedly trashed a COVID-19 pop-up testing station in a Sydney pandemic hot zone to come forward.
The vandals have been described as “grubs” by an angry NSW Health Minister.
And Brad Hazzard has joined the call for the public to dob them in so the “book can be thrown at them”.
Police are hunting for the criminals who targeted temporary shelters set up to protect heroic health workers from bad weather while they test thousands of residents on the northern end of the northern beaches.
“There is no other word for them but ‘grubs’,” Mr Hazzard said.
“I call on the local community to let the police know what you may know.
“Someone out there knows who these people are and they deserve to have the book thrown at them.”
In the latest attack overnight Sunday, a valuable marquee lent by the State Emergency Service (SES) to NSW Health, was up-ended in the car park at North Narrabeen Reserve, near the Pittwater Rat Park football ground.
The vandals slashed through thick ropes and tore through the plastic canopy of one of the shelters.
They also tore open sandbags that were used to anchor the marquees against strong winds.
Police said the marquees were also targeted on Saturday night and in the middle of last week.
Health workers discovered the latest attack when they went to set up the testing site early on Monday morning.
Northern Beaches Police have confirmed they are investigating the incidents.
“Anyone who saw something suspicious around Rat Park on Saturday or Sunday night is urged to contact us,” a police spokesman said
The Pittwater/Warringah SES Unit lent the shelters to health officials for the pop-up testing station. The unit said that the vandals slashed through all the ropes and emptied all the sandbags used to secure the marquees in place.
“Both marquees were flipped upside down,” the unit said.
“The biggest marquee received the most damage, with a section of the canvas cut off and one of the poles bent beyond repair.
“It will be thrown out.”
Mr Hazzard said SES volunteers work tirelessly for the community.
“Times right know are extremely difficult with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Whoever these grubs are should hang their heads in shame and their names and addresses, if known, should be given to the police forthwith.”
The vandalism has also angered Liberal Northern Beaches Councillor Pat Daley who is set to urge the council to help stop the attacks.
Cr Daly, and other Liberal councillors, are pushing for an urgent special meeting of the council to address COVID-19 issues and want to include the protection of testing sites on the agenda.
“The council can assist police and health officials in stopping this by erecting fencing or portable CCTV cameras at the pop-up testing sites,” he said.
“This vandalism is an absolute outrage especially with the NSW Government calling for more people to be tested.”
The vandal attacks came as two people were hit with $1000 fines breaching a Public Health Order after leaving their home at Collaroy last week to holiday on the NSW north coast.
Police said that on Saturday they were tipped off that a man and woman, both aged 32, had left their home on Friday — while the northern beaches COVID-19 lockdown was still in place — to drive to Yamba.
“Officers from Coffs/Clarence Police District spoke with the pair and determined they didn’t have a lawful excuse for leaving their home and, in doing so, had breached the Public Health (COVID-19 Northern Beaches) Order,” a police spokesman said.
Both were issued an $1000 Penalty Infringement Notice.
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