Byron Bay hostel in week-long Covid lockdown as school leavers arrive to party
More than 80 backpackers at a Byron Bay hostel on the New South Wales north coast have been placed into a week-long lockdown after a guest tested positive to Covid-19.
The lockdown comes as thousands of celebrating school leavers are due to arrive in Byron Bay and other parts of northern NSW over the next month from this weekend.
The Ballina state MP, Tamara Smith, posted on Facebook on Wednesday night about the situation at the Aquarius Backpackers.
“I’m closely monitoring a situation in Byron Bay this evening where a positive Covid-19 case and 84 close contacts have been identified at Aquarius Backpackers in Byron Bay,” she said.
NSW Health has locked down the hostel for seven days, impacting 84 guests. “I’m told [they are] being supported with food, health and support,” Smith said.
NSW police have placed a 24-hour guard on the hostel to ensure compliance. “My thoughts are with everyone in that situation as it will be a tough time,” Smith said.
Kebab shop owner Ismail Isik, known as Zaza, gets most of his business from young patrons spilling out of the pubs and clubs late at night. News of the Covid case in town is troubling.
“People, they will worry and they will stop coming to Byron and again, all business gets really affected,” he told Guardian Australia. “Absolutely it’s going to hurt again. It’s going to affect us and Gold Coast border is still closed. It’s been two years we’ve been losing the money. It’s hard.”
However, he was confident authorities were doing the right thing.
“The health people are coming to check my shop, all my staff have double jab, we try to do right things. They come asking all the time, they do a good job,” he said.
Thousands of higher school certificate students are about to descend on the resort town for schoolies celebrations.
Some 80.9% of residents in the Byron Bay local government area are fully vaccinated. Although high, the coverage rate lags the state average of 92%.
When asked if they were worried about the Covid case in Byron Bay, one group of young women simply responded: “We’re from Melbourne”.
They also gave some advice for those locked down in the hostel:
“Be thankful you’re in Byron Bay and at least it’s raining,” they said in unison, as one more carton of beer was delivered at the police cordon.
Officers say they will be conducting a high-visibility operation targeting drug and alcohol-related crime and antisocial behaviour.
Meanwhile, unvaccinated year 12 students have been granted an exemption to attend year 12 formals, dinners or graduations.
The NSW health minister, Brad Hazzard, said the 2021 cohort “had an incredibly tough 18 months”. “They deserve to be able to party with their friends and enjoy one of the biggest celebrations of their life,” he said on Thursday.
The exemption means year 12 students who have not been vaccinated will be able to celebrate with their friends if they abide by the public health requirements of the venue they’re attending.
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The NSW government’s Covid-19 cabinet subcommittee will meet on Thursday to consider if a mask mandate will be extended beyond 15 December.
The government’s roadmap out of lockdown says restrictions will ease when NSW reaches 95% double vaccination or on 15 December – whichever comes first.
That’s when the lockout of unvaccinated people will end and masks will only be required on public transport, planes and airports and for indoor, front-of-house hospitality staff.
There are reports that NSW Health bureaucrats are pushing to keep masks mandatory in shops during the entire festive season.
Additional reporting by Jennifer King