Third charged over party feared to be a superspreader event that plunged Newcastle into lockdown

The man who hosted a party at which three people contracted coronavirus has been charged as police continued to fine people in record numbers.

NSW Police have charged a Newcastle man after he allegedly held three house parties that led to him and two guests catching Covid-19.

Police said on Tuesday they had charged the 22-year-old man with breaching the public health order. He is due to face court on September 28.

NSW Police have alleged he hosted three parties on consecutive nights over July 28-30 at his Sandgate Rd, Shortland home.

Police have previously charged two western Sydney women aged 21 and 20 for attending the party after they travelled to Newcastle from western Sydney.

It has since been discovered that all three contracted coronavirus and have been forced into isolation.

Police spoke with the 21-year-old woman on-board a northbound train on the morning of Thursday July 29.

She was warned and told to turn back home because she was breaching health regulations by leaving Greater Sydney without a reasonable excuse.

NSW Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys says police will crack down on anyone flouting the public health order. Picture: Gaye Gerard / NCA Newswire

Instead of returning to Sydney, police discovered her alongside the 20-year-old woman at the Shortland house party.

They were issued with $1000 fines, however it’s alleged they failed to follow the directions of officers and stayed in the area.

Police have alleged the 20-year-old woman travelled from Sydney by train several days earlier and attended several locations across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie.

Both women have previously been charged with failing to comply with a noticed direction and will appear in court next month.

Health authorities have previously said the outbreak which plunged the Hunter Region into lockdown originated from a woman who travelled from Sydney by train between July 28 and August 1.

As well, a 21-year-old man, a 26-year-old man and 20-year-old woman have received $1000 penalty infringement notices for attending the series of house parties.

Police have not ruled out making further arrests or issuing further fines as their investigations continue.

The fines handed out to the man were among 579 issued over the last 24 hours – the largest number since the start of the pandemic – as part of Operation Stay At Home.

“Policing will continue at this level not just tomorrow, not just this week, but over the next 21 days,” NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys said.

“We will continue to do that right across the stay, reassessing every single day at the police operation centre and matching our activity to where the police should be.”

Deputy Commissioner Worboys said in a separate incident, police officers and ADF personnel attended a southwestern Sydney home and discovered a man who was supposed to be in isolation was not at his residence.

“He stated he’d hopped in his car and went out for some fresh air and hadn’t been anywhere else,” Deputy Commissioner Worboys said.

“If you’re going to step outside the health orders, you will be checked on and you will get an infringement notice and that person will continue to be checked on to make sure they comply.”