Regional mayors and MPs demand NSW Government to fix the loopholes in the health orders

There are lockdown loopholes allowing residents to leave their homes and potentially spread Covid-19 in regional areas across the country.

Regional mayors and MPs are demanding the NSW government close lockdown loopholes that are allowing residents to leave Greater Sydney and potentially spread Covid-19 in the regions.

Current NSW health orders allow people to leave their home to inspect real estate, visit holiday homes and catch up with romantic partners outside of the city.

“The loophole as it stands needs to be closed or modified to keep our people safe,” Port Stephens Mayor Ryan Palmer said.

“I understand there are people involved and reasons why people would need to move out of Sydney such as leases expiring, relationship breakdowns and work commitments, but the safety of our community is our number priority.

“If people do need to move out of the Greater Sydney region into regional NSW they should be required to apply for a permit and also be tested, returning a negative result.”

Supplied Editorial Port Stephens mayor Ryan Palmer. Picture: Supplied.

It comes as Sydney man Zoran Radovanovic, 52, from Rose Bay in Sydney’s east was yesterday charged with breaching the Public Health Order by leaving Sydney and visiting Byron Bay and surrounding areas. Mr Radovanovic who is being treated in Lismore Hospital after testing Covid-19 positive sparked a lockdown in Byron Bay.

A cleaning business owner on the Central Coast said she knew of many Greater Sydney residents flouting lockdown restrictions by travelling to their coastal properties.

“The majority of homes are owned by Sydney resident owners yet they continue to travel up here constantly to ‘escape Sydney’,” the business owner, who didn’t wish to be named, said.

“I have been asked to clean and garden for these people, many of whom are also having guests visit whilst they are up here.

A Covid-19 testing clinic has been set up at the Cavanbah Centre on Ewingsdale Road, in Byron Bay, after a case was detected on the Northern Rivers.

“I’m frustrated and angry,” the woman said.

“Because they own multiple properties, it doesn’t give them the right to travel freely when others are unable to.”

There are also concerns over the exemption allowing residents to visit their intimate partners outside of Sydney.

But NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys said police were continuing to enforce compliance with public health orders and investigate any breaches.

“We’ve seen people in these country communities devastated by people travelling from Greater Sydney out into the regional and rural areas,” Dep Comm Worboys said.

“Police will always look at what is the best outcome and what the community expects of how people should be dealt with.”

NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys said police were continuing to enforce compliance with public health orders. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

Gosford MP Liesl Tesch said it should not be “left up to police” to deal with rulebreakers, instead she called on the health orders to be tightened.

“MPs from regional communities made it very clear to Brad Hazzard and Dr Kerry Chant that this was a real concern, especially the real estate loophole,” Ms Tesch said.

“I have had conversations across our community where people are concerned they are not locals looking at property. We haven’t seen changes in those regulations, so they are up to creative interpretation.

“We have worked really hard and been so self-disciplined, it’s actually Sydneysiders working in our community who are going into our local shops that we are seeing these cases.

“We can’t point the finger at every case, but if we know we have clear and definitive rules to protect our community it’s going to make things a lot easier.”

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said that while there are no plans to fix the “loopholes” in the public health order, he feels “confident” that if someone is taking “advantage of the situation” that the police will find them.

“There are circumstances where, for example, there’s a marriage breakdown, somebody’s going to look at a house, that situation, or perhaps a doctor works in Byron Bay and Sydney,” Mr Hazzard said.

“Those issues have to be balanced like everything else in the epidemic, and we're doing that.”

Originally published as Regional mayors and MPs demand NSW Government to fix the loopholes in the health orders