How man's trip to McDonald's cost him $2800
A Queensland man’s trip to McDonald’s has wound up costing him a lot more than he bargained for after he was caught by police failing to self-isolate.
Vision of the incident was released by Queensland Police and shows the cops approaching the man’s vehicle outside a McDonald’s and explaining they are attached to the “Covid unit”.
The police inform the man of the obvious - that he had left his residence - before they ask him why he had done so.
Police said the man is 34-years-old and from Woree, in the Cairns region.
From the video, which has censored what the man says to the police, it seems the man was identified as a close contact with a known Covid case and was directed under the Health Act to quarantine at home.
“We’re not here to muck around with Covid,” one of the police officers says in the video.
“I understand that you weren’t aware you had close contact with someone, but once you’re given a direction and you’re told to stay home, it is very clear that you are not to leave your address.”
There are circumstances in which someone can leave their home after being identified as a close contact, such as medical treatment and services or some kind of emergency situation, as the police officer tells the man.
“Coming to McDonald’s is definitely not one of those,” the officer says.
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For breaching quarantine directions, the man will have to pay the price.
“Your actions today have shown me that you are unable to comply with your quarantine directions, so we are going to put you in government accomodation at your own expense,” the officer says.
In Queensland, it costs $2800 for one adult to quarantine at a hotel. This fee also includes meals.
Queensland anticipates more border delays
Queensland Police are expecting further delays at the southern border while investigations continue into the arrival of a superyacht in the north.
Chief Superintendent Mark Wheeler said police and SES crews would continue to scale up resources at border checkpoints.
"We only had a very short window of time to close the borders and implement those checkpoints," he said on Thursday.
There are currently three checkpoints operating around the clock with plans to establish a fourth.
"We can't do that overnight, we can't just simply pluck police from other rosters and make this happen immediately," he said.
Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath is concerned about undetected coronavirus cases in the state after details of two positive cases came to light on Thursday.
Sewage tests at Wynnum, Bargara and Bundaberg have returned positive results for COVID-19 and people in the areas with any sign of symptoms are being asked to get tested.
One of the cases was a 20-year-old female crew member of a superyacht that came from the Maldives and is at the centre of a police investigation.
The vessel allegedly arrived in Cairns on Monday with 14 guests plus the crew on board.
The guests have been directed into hotel quarantine while six remaining crew members stay on the vessel.
The other case was a man who has been in self-isolation since returning from Sydney's northern beaches.
Ms D'Ath says the 40-year-old tested negative after returning from the hotspot last Friday, before becoming unwell and testing positive late on Wednesday night.
With AAP
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