Coronavirus: Noosa’s Sails ‘scapegoated as other venues off free’

Lyndon Simmons says it’s a ‘scandal’ that Annastacia Palaszczuk, Steven Miles and Queensland Health have singled out his venue.

Sails restaurant in Noosa in Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

Health authorities have been accuse­d of failing  to warn the public that guests of a 50th birthday party linked to one of Queensland’s worst coronavirus outbreaks spent extended periods of time in Noosa venues, including a luxury hotel, bars and cafes.

Lyndon Simmons, owner of Noosa restaurant Sails, says Queensland Health had made his business a “scapegoat” for hosting the party, attended by 90 friends who have since dispersed around the country.

Up to 30 guests and staff at the birthday celebration for property industry figure Glen Wright, husband­ of GIVIT charity found­er Juliette Wright, have been diag­nosed with COVID-19.

Mr Simmons said it was a “scandal’’ that Premier Anna­stacia Palaszczuk, Health Minister Steven Miles and Queensland Health singled out his venue this week and did not name others, as he warned that more people in the tourist town had fallen ill.

“They were all up and down the street — I know a number of the places they went to,” Mr Simmons said of party guests.

“In the interests of health, let alone leaving me like a ship out in the ocean on my own, it would have been comfortable if there were half a dozen other venues mentioned in Hastings Street. It appears Sails has been nominated to be the scapegoat but more worrying is the health aspect.

“If we’re fair dinkum about this, we’ve got to know the circumstan­ces: where they’ve been, who’s at risk.”

The outbreak is believed to have originated with a guest at the March 14 party who had just returned from a ski resort in Aspen, Colorado.

Queensland Health said this week that four Sails staff members continued to work at the site while unknowingly infected.

Mr Simmons said operators of other Hastings Street venues had confirmed the guests were also in their venues.

“Why would the trail end at Sails? They didn’t go home to their houses, they went out and stayed in town.”

Guests stayed at a five-star hotel and “before they got to us, they had pre-dinner drinks there”, he said.

“We know people are getting sick now. They don’t know why they’re getting sick or where they’re getting it from.’’

Health guidelines say people are at higher risk of infection if they have had face-to-face contact with a confirmed case for 15 minutes or more, or shared an enclose­d space with them for more than two hours.

Queensland Health said it conducted “contact tracing” of all confirmed cases to ascertain who they were infected by and who they had been in contact with.

Four Sails staff members contracted the virus and the restaurant closed this week when new lockdown measures came into effect.

“People who’ve got half a brain realise it’s not a virus we locked in the cupboard and let out when we were there,” Mr Simmons said.

“It’s transmitted by human to human. As they move on they transmit it to the community.”