Questions raised over whether Anthony Albanese should have attended ‘high-risk’ Bluesfest

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese’s visit to one particular event may have given him Covid-19 and also generated plenty of negative headlines.

Anthony Albanese’s Covid diagnosis has raised questions about whether he should have taken a “high-risk” visit to the Byron Bay Bluesfest.

The Labor leader will be in isolation for the next week after testing positive for the virus on Thursday night ahead of a visit to Western Australia.

It came four days after he made headlines for being boo-ed at the Bluesfest on Sunday night ahead of a performance by rock icon Jimmy Barnes, although many in the crowd did also welcome him, greeting him with high-fives.

Labor has been taking a lot of precautions to avoid the spread of the virus on the campaign trail but many journalists covering Mr Albanese have still become infected.

Footage of Mr Albanese greeting thousands of music fans over the Easter weekend also raised concerns.

“I think that’s gotta be the epicentre of the unvaccinated in Australia and I was thinking when he was shaking hands with that crowd, ‘Gee that’s high-risk,’” Nine political editor Chris Uhlmann told A Current Affair host Tracy Grimshaw.

While Byron Bay and its surroundings have been associated with low vaccination rates, more than 90 per cent of residents have been double dosed in the postcode area 2481 (including Byron Bay), and 80-90 per cent are fully vaccinated in surrounding postcodes.

However, the music festival was expected to draw more than 100,000 people across five days, and people did not have to be vaccinated to attend.

When asked whether it was a mistake for Mr Albanese to visit the festival, “especially when there’s a lot of anti-vaxxers in there and no masks”, Labor campaign spokesperson Jason Clare said: “It’s hard to tell where you get it.

“With Bluesfest, people came from everywhere. Don’t assume for a second people just came from Byron. People came from all across the country,” he said.

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Labor leader Anthony Albanese giving high fives to music lovers at Bluesfest. Picture: Toby Zerna

“I just make the point that at a time when you have 40- or 50,000 people getting Covid every day, it’s almost inevitable you’re going to get Covid.

“I caught it the other day. I missed out on the last week of Parliament because I had Covid. It’s going to happen. You need to prepare for it. And that is what we have done.”

Mr Clare said Australians would see more of Mr Albanese’s team while he remains in isolation for the next week.

He added that Mr Albanese was doing OK.

“He’s got a bit of a croaky throat, as you’d expect. But he’s doing pretty well. And he wanted me to say thank you, not just to the people in this room, but to people around Australia.

“He’s got lots of messages, lots of well wishes overnight and through the morning.”