Further details have emerged about the illegal engagement party that took place in Melbourne over the weekend. Unlinked cases have arisen in the local government areas of Bayside, Glen Eira, and Port Phillip, in the vicinity of the party.
Covid Transmission Confirmed at Caulfield Engagement Party
The party took place in Caulfield North, Melbourne, with 69 guests in attendance. At least one person attended the party while infectious, and at least five people were infected at the party.
But it is not yet clear the full extent of Covid transmission at the event. Only half the test results have so far been returned.
The party arose the indignation of Victorians after video emerged of a party-goer joking about flouting lock-down restrictions.
“Clearly this is legal,” the man said at a speech at the engagement, “because this is a group therapy session.” The Twitter hashtag #engagementparty continues to trend.
Melbourne’s current lock-down restrictions have now been extended until at least 2 September. On Monday night, the restrictions extended to include a curfew from 9pm until 5am and the shut-down of public playgrounds and outdoor gyms.
Since the weekend, it has also been reported that medical professionals were amongst those who attended the gathering. Their actions have been referred to the health regulator with professional consequences possible.
In the words of Dan Andrews, these are “shitty choices.”
“Every time even a small number of people make really bad choices, selfish choices, it take away from the hard work that so many millions more are doing, and it extends these lockdowns because it makes it more likely that we will have more cases,” Mr Andrews said.
“Our contact tracers who are working their guts out for all of us will have to spend literally thousands of hours dealing with hundreds and thousands of people connected to that engagement party.
Victoria’s Chief Police Commissioner told ABC he expects fines from the event to reach $350,000.
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