Coronavirus: Up to 30 people catch virus after 50th birthday party at Noosa restaurant
‘I’m Mr Corona in Warwick,’ says local butcher Peter Wright as he looks back at his brother’s 50th birthday party at Noosa.
“I’m Mr Corona in Warwick,’’ says local butcher Peter Wright as he looks back ruefully at his brother Glen’s 50th birthday party a couple of weeks ago.
It was a night to remember at one of Queensland’s most beautiful attractions, as more than 90 close friends gathered together at Sails restaurant on Noosa’s Hastings Street, which overlooks the golden sands of its main beach. Befitting the swanky occasion on Saturday, March 14, guests came from far and wide and kicked on late into the night. Then they scattered back to their homes.
A week and a half later, the party has become one of the key spreading events of the coronavirus crisis.
Up to 30 guests and restaurant staff have been infected, and the small regional town of Warwick, 300km southwest of Noosa, is on tenterhooks. Among the party’s guests was a man who had only just returned from Aspen, in the US, who is now suspected to have unknowingly had the virus.
The day after the party, Scott Morrison would extend travel restrictions to make it mandatory for people returning from overseas to self-isolate for 14 days.
That ruling would be too late for the partygoers.
Mr Wright — not the original source of the virus — went with his wife, Michelle, to the party, then returned to Warwick, where he co-owns Rose City Premium Meats.
On Tuesday, March 17, he woke with a mild headache and took a couple of Panadols. He felt tired that day and the next, but never suspected COVID-19.
His butcher shop was doing a roaring trade from the panic buying that has gripped the nation, serving 1700 customers that one week.
Putting in the hours there, he had also been re-roofing his home.
“Any person would be fatigued. I put that down to the amount of time I was standing on my two feet all week,” Mr Wright said.
Then last Friday, March 20, came the call everyone now dreads. Queensland Health said he had been exposed to the virus.
“I was told to self-isolate and if I showed any symptoms to present myself for testing,” he said.
“So being a businessman in a very small community, I chose to go to Toowoomba and get tested in a drive-through and then wait.
“I did grill the Queensland Health staff and I did have to plead nearly to get tested because I didn’t really have enough symptoms.
“My symptoms were a very mild cold. I didn’t have any fever, no sore throat, no shortness of breath. I’ve had hangovers worse than this — 100 times worse. And colds and flus that I’ve worked through at work worse than this.”
Test conclusion
The test came back positive and on Monday, March 23, he announced that the butcher shop had closed until further notice.
Mr Wright is one of nine people from just one table at the party to test positive.
He has praised the shop’s loyal customers for their support, but says his positive test result has seriously spooked some of Warwick’s 12,000 residents.
“Early days it wasn’t so good but I think I’ve put most of the bushfires out,” Mr Wright said.
“It was pretty hard going early on, there was a lot of slander and blame-throwing.
“Anyway, most people have been supportive now.”
Contamination fears
The Commonwealth Bank shut down its Warwick branch this week and put its staff into isolation. Mr Wright had briefly visited the branch before he knew he had the virus.
The branch was forensically cleaned and reopened on Wednesday with staff members deployed from other areas, a CBA spokeswoman confirmed.
Four Warwick State High School students and their families have also been told to self-isolate, and another member of the school community was awaiting test results.
Meanwhile, Assumption College Warwick announced that several members of the school’s community had likely been exposed to a confirmed case of the coronavirus in nearby Killarney, which is believed to relate to others who were at the party.
Killarney’s Little Rascals Child Care Centre also said it had temporarily closed on Monday after two parents tested positive.
Glen Wright, a prominent property industry figure, did not respond to attempts to reach him on Wednesday.
His wife, Juliette Wright, founded the lauded charity GIVIT, which during the recent bushfires was promoted on social media by Barack Obama among others, and this year attracted a personal donation from Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
Cluster revealed
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Wednesday the “cluster” of cases from the party showed how one gathering could lead the virus to spread, and was a “very clear signal to everyone that this is now not the time to socialise”.
Noosa mayor Tony Wellington said only four of those who had tested positive lived on the Sunshine Coast, and “the rest have dispersed elsewhere”.
The case also highlights that small or remote Australian towns are far from immune from a virus that has forced a global lockdown.
Federal health guidelines indicate that none of Peter Wright’s customers should be at risk, but that hasn’t stopped people worrying. “We’re the first butcher shop in Australia to be bloody closed down,” he said. “I knew it was going to be big when I’m the first person and brought it back here.
“Rational people thought it was only a matter of time before it got here, but some people think we only read about it in big cities and it was never going to happen.
“Unfortunately, we’re more global than that.”
Following guidelines
Mr Wright said according to Australian government health guidelines he did not meet the close contact criteria that would require bank staff to isolate.
“But they chose to, which I thought was an overreaction,” he said. “Unfortunately, there’s a bit of misinformation out there. There’s a lot of hysteria around it at the moment.”
He’d “had to reassure” the Warwick Golf Club he was not contagious when he’d been there for championship presentations. The clubhouse has since closed, but said that was because of the national shutdown of restaurants.
“So it’s not me that closed the whole golf club as well, but I’m going to take it anyway,” Mr Wright said.
His wife has tested negative to the virus, despite attending the party and going into quarantine with her husband.
So far, none of his staff had shown any symptoms of the virus, he said.
The restaurant
Sails had been booked out for the private event, was not open to the general public at the time and has been closed since Monday.
Owner Lyndon Simmons said he was focused on the health and wellbeing of staff and customers and was looking forward to the day he could reopen.
“Our staff have continued to follow the instructions of Queensland Health,” Mr Simmons said.
“Most of those in attendance stayed in accommodation in and around Hastings Street and enjoyed dining, coffees and drinks at a number of other establishments.
“The virus is transmitted from person to person and not from locations. I would like to reassure our patrons of Sails’ stringent hygiene standards as well as our care and concern for the local community at this time.”
Other guests who tested positive are said to have only mild symptoms.
Multiple sources
Mr Wright was stunned by the “extraordinary” level of transmission and questioned whether there was more than one carrier.
“It’s hard to believe that one source could get to that many people in a room,” he said.
His brother had been “struggling a fair bit with the amount of backlash”, while another relative had also suffered a barrage of abuse.
He was still trying to work out the financial impact on the business.
“We’ve been through a fairly significant drought and bushfires and we’re in a community that’s struggled for a long time and have only just recently had some rain,” Mr Wright said.
“We’ve been through a very, very difficult time and then to be struck down with this coronavirus and then to be also struck down out of business … we were ready for it to come over the front counter but it’s certainly heightened our eyes to the fact we’ve got to have two teams.
“We couldn’t afford to be shut down again, so we’re going to have to split our workforce.
“It’s been one hell of a few days, I can tell you.”
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