Aspen jetsetters publicly shamed in Portsea, may face legal action over virus
Members of Melbourne’s now-notorious “Colorado cluster” who allegedly failed to self-isolate have been lashed by a Liberal politician, who labelled them “flogs”. It comes as the group of Victorian high flyers copped a public blasting in Portsea this week.
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Aspen jetsetters who allegedly failed to self-isolate on returning to Australia have been described as “flogs” by a Liberal frontbencher.
State Liberal planning spokesman Tim Smith said authorities should “throw the book” at anyone who did the wrong thing from the group of travellers, which created what health authorities call the Colorado ski group cluster.
Mr Smith said some of his mates had been “cooped up” in their homes for days since returning from overseas and for others to have ignored restrictions was “totally unacceptable”.
“These other flogs reckon they can go down the street … just because they feel like it. Well, that’s not acceptable,” he said.
“We are all in this together. Therefore we all have to abide by the law together. As onerous as it may be, as annoying it as it may be, as painful as it may be.”
It comes as furious Portsea residents this week teed off at the Colorado cluster, erecting signs around the seaside town lashing out at them to have stayed in Aspen.
Chalked blackboard signs reading “You should of stayed in Aspen” were erected around the Mornington Peninsula on the weekend, outside the Sorrento Sailing Club and coming into Portsea.
Mornington Peninsula — including prestigious Portsea and Sorrento — had four new reported coronavirus cases over the weekend, to take its tally to 45, followed by Melbourne and Boroondara with 38 cases.
Up-market areas Portsea, Sorrento and Toorak are now among the top areas for coronavirus outbreaks in Victoria.
And angry locals are also slamming day trippers and part-time residents, telling visitors to “stay in your own postcode”.
The signs were seen at the end of the Mornington Peninsula freeway in Rosebud and by the busy roundabout at Browns and Boneo roads.
Roundabouts along Melbourne Rd in Rye were graffitied with the messages “Go home – locals only” and “COVID-19 ain’t no holiday”.
It comes as Sorrento Golf Club president David Paranthoiene reprimanded members, sending a group email calling on them to stop spreading nasty rumours.
Be careful and stop slandering others is the message amid accusations that some of the club’s socially aware members are behaving badly.
The prez’s rap over the knuckles comes as furious members react to what they see as irresponsible behaviour by some members returning from a skiing holiday at a luxury Aspen resort.
The fallout has even reached exclusive Hastings St in Noosa.
But it’s the locals at the coastal hideaway of Melbourne’s mostly rich and almost famous who are fuming.
More than a dozen Portsea residents and school parents have vented to Page 13 over the Colorado cluster.
They say some members who were on the trip are blatantly flouting self-isolation requirements and have been seen walking their dogs and hanging out at their bathing boxes as well as playing a few rounds of golf. Some have been seen shopping at Stringers deli while believed to be infected with the coronavirus.
“I suspect they think with privilege and power they’ll get a ventilator if they are unfortunate enough to get unwell,” said an angry member.
Another resident, fed up at the private school parties along his Ti Tree-lined street, said partygoers ignoring social-distancing guidelines should be “hung out to dry”.
“They think they are above the law and that’s an utter and absolute disgrace,” the resident said.
He said a group of more than 40 “St Catherine’s alumni” were partying into the night at a girl’s 21st last Saturday.
He said he knew of a handful of parents who barred their kids from attending because of fears of contracting the coronavirus. Other parents, he said, “just couldn’t care less”.
The social set at the Sorrento Golf Club say they are teed-off and some should have their memberships cancelled.
Page 13 spoke to one of the Colorado cluster members accused of flouting self-isolating rules while infected. She said, in outraged tones, that it was all part of a hate campaign.
“We are the responsible ones in this,” she said.
“If we lived in Box Hill and I’d been to Bali no one would care, would they?”
That’s not the view from the clubhouse.
WHY JETSETTERS MAY FACE LEGAL ACTION
Several high-flying Victorians who had contact with members of the COVID-19 Colorado ski trip cluster are considering legal action.
The Herald Sun understands a group of Geelong Grammar school parents are seeking legal advice after an Aspen jetsetter returned to Australia and went to a cocktail party at the school’s Glamorgan campus, Toorak.
Angry Mornington Peninsula residents are also seeking legal advice over alleged “medical negligence”, saying people who didn’t self-isolate put lives in danger.
The Colorado cluster broke out after a party in an Aspen ski village apartment hosted by former Liberal Party treasurer Andrew Abercrombie in early March.
Some members of the group, including Mr Abercrombie, have identified themselves to show they were self-isolating and do not have the virus.
The Herald Sun revealed on Thursday two people who had contact with Aspen jetsetters had contracted COVID-19 and were on ventilators.
Furore over the Aspen trip has reached fever pitch in some of Melbourne’s most affluent suburbs, with Premier Daniel Andrews on Thursday saying anyone not following the rules is “being selfish”.
ASPEN JETSETTER SPEAKS OUT ABOUT VIRUS
Eliza Honan, a member of the Colorado ski trip cluster has broken her silence after testing positive to the coronavirus.
Honan said she had not attended any social gatherings since arriving back to Melbourne from the US.
She urged others to do the right thing and “stay at home”.
“Thank you to all of those who have sent messages of support throughout my recovery from coronavirus (COVID-19).
“Thankfully I am fully recovered and I am now working from home.”
Honan attended former Victorian Liberal Party treasurer Andrew Abercrombie’s Aspen party celebrations on March 2 with her parents and up to 40 other guests, but it’s understood she left early.
She then travelled to Los Angeles before returning to her Melbourne base.
“On returning to Melbourne from the US with flu symptoms I immediately self-isolated and saw a GP as soon as possible, insisting I be tested for COVID-19.
“Having tested positive for COVID-19, I co-operated fully with health authorities and remained isolated at home,” Honan said in a statement this afternoon.
“Even after receiving an email notification from the Department of Health and Human Services releasing me from isolation, I remained in self-isolation for a further week.
“Since arriving back in Melbourne, I have not attended any events or social gatherings.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the public health team at the Department of Health and Human Services for their professionalism and support throughout this ordeal, especially the nurses who called me every day while I was in isolation.
“My thoughts are with those in our community affected by COVID-19 and the health professionals at the forefront of our fight against this virus.
“We owe it to all of them to stay at home. “
Meanwhile, a man struck down with COVID-19 and fighting for his life in hospital had mixed with the Melbourne jetsetters infected at the exclusive Aspen ski resort in Colorado.
Another man who interacted with one of the alpine ski set at a Geelong Grammar parents’ cocktail party in Toorak also contracted the virus, and had to be hooked up to a ventilator, but has since recovered.
The Herald Sun can reveal Victorian health authorities are now closely monitoring what is being called the Colorado ski trip cluster, with dozens of infections believed to have spread from that US trip.
It is believed the COVID-19 infections originated from a child of one of the members of the group, who visited them in Aspen while travelling around the world.
An outbreak in Noosa in Queensland which has hit 30 people after a 50th birthday party has also been linked to Aspen — with a man who went to the function at a restaurant having recently spent time at the Colorado resort.
Health authorities are checking Melburnians who had contact with the Aspen group, who include successful business people and members of the social elite.
Data released on Thursday shows the highest rates of infection in Melbourne are in the City of Stonnington, which includes prestigious suburbs such as Toorak and Armadale, with 57 cases.
The Mornington Peninsula, which includes posh Portsea and Sorrento, has the next highest number, 36 cases. The City of Melbourne has 32.
Amid reports some of the ski party who recently returned were not self-isolating, a few members of the Aspen group have moved to clear the air and declare they were quarantining themselves.
One of them, Flexigroup chairman and former state Liberal Party treasurer Andrew Abercrombie, on Thursday broke his silence.
He said he was in “good health” and “has been in self-isolation in Melbourne since returning home from Aspen”.
Mr Abercrombie and his wife Shadda first put themselves into self-isolation in the world-famous ski village after hearing someone they had been in contact with there had contracted the virus.
After being cleared by US authorities to return to Melbourne, they were tested for COVID-19 by authorities here.
The couple both returned negative test results.
“He has twice tested negative for COVID-19 and on Thursday received a notice from VicHealth confirming his isolation period is over,” Mr Abercrombie’s spokeswoman said.
He also clarified he had not been in Portsea since leaving for overseas in February.
The Herald Sun on Thursday reported Portsea residents were fuming about members of the Aspen cluster, whom they believed were blatantly breaking self-isolation restrictions while in the town.
Other members of the Aspen group include entrepreneur Sophie Carnegie-Cooper and her partner, debt expert Michael Backwell, and marketing analyst Eliza Honan.
The Herald Sun is not suggesting those people were flouting restrictions on people returning overseas, only that they were in the group.
The Department of Health and Human Services data on council areas with high infections was released on Thursday, with a warning that the best way to slow the virus was to remain isolated.
ASPEN’S DIRTY LITTLE SECRET
The dirty plates were piling up outside the door at the Little Nell hotel in Aspen.
The jetsetting Toorak couple holed up in the swanky ski chalet were self-isolating after Andrew Abercrombie’s cocktail party over at the North of Nell condo.
The former Victorian Liberal treasurer and his wife, Shadda, were also in self-isolation after they discovered a friend they’d been in contact with had been infected with the virus.
Meanwhile, room service staff were refusing to collect plates they thought may have been infected.
Those on the annual ski trip were on what one high-flyer called “quintessentially an Australian destination”.
This time, many on the trip were believed to have been infected with COVID-19.
Aspen locals are blaming what has become known as the Colorado cluster for effectively closing down the resort. In an address, Colorado Governor Jared Polis said the outbreak was tied to a singular travel group from Australia.
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