Two men fined $15,000 after dodging isolation to attend Newcastle superspreader event

Two men who attended a superspreading event have been whacked with huge fines after allegedly breaking a Covid rule.

Two 20-year-old revellers have been fined a total of $15,000 over isolation breaches on the night of Newcastle‘s superspreader event.

Newcastle has become the centre of NSW’s Omicron outbreak following a party at the Argyle House nightclub on December 8 that has already seeded more than 200 Covid-19 cases.

NSW Police fined a 20-year-old man $10,000 on Thursday afternoon for allegedly breaching a direction to isolate.

Police said the man had been identified as a close contact of a positive Covid-19 case and told to isolate on December 8 but then attended the Argyle House event.

“It’s understood the man subsequently attended a licensed premises on Wharf Road later that evening, and also attended a private residence in Adamstown on December 11,” police said.

“He has since returned a positive test to Covid-19 and is currently self-isolating.”

Later on Thursday, police fined a second 20-year-old man $5000 after he allegedly attended the same party while he was meant to be isolating as a close Covid-19 contact.

The man has since returned a positive Covid-19 test, police said.

At least one of the men is believed to have attended a boat party on Sydney Harbour the week earlier which sparked a cluster of cases.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard said a person with Covid-19 ignored health advice to self-isolate after the boat party and travelled to Newcastle to attend the Argyle House event.

“I believe that person was asked to self-isolate for seven days and that person apparently on the face of it may not have done that and went to a nightclub in Newcastle,” Mr Hazzard said earlier this week.

NSW Health on Friday morning issued an alert for three other Newcastle exposure sites associated with at least 50 confirmed Covid-19 infections.

Health officials say it is likely many of these cases have the Omicron variant of concern.

At least one of the men attended a boat party on Sydney Harbour linked to an earlier Covid-19 outbreak. Picture: Instagram

People should monitor for symptoms and get tested if they attended The Great Northern Hotel on December 11 from 12.01am, Finnegan’s Hotel on December 11 from 7pm, or the Cambridge Hotel on December 11 from 7pm or December 12 from 6pm.

Authorities are urging people in Newcastle to “seriously consider” avoiding social gatherings until after Christmas because of the outbreak.

NSW recorded its highest ever daily Covid-19 caseload on Thursday, with 1742 new infections confirmed across the state.

Of these, 633 new cases were identified in the Hunter New England Local Health District, which covers Newcastle and the surrounding region.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard told 2GB one of the men ignored health advice when he went to the Newcastle event. Picture: Jenny Evans/Getty Images

The soaring cases have forced the cancellation of Newcastle’s Lunar Electric music festival, meant to take place on Saturday.

“NSW Health considered that the ongoing spread of Covid-19 in the Newcastle area, where the majority of a record number of cases are the Omicron variant of concern, presents too great a risk for the festival to take place this weekend,” the health department said on Thursday evening.

Despite surging cases, hospitalisations and intensive care presentations remain relatively low in NSW, with 192 Covid-19 patients in hospital and 26 in ICU on Thursday.