“I would appeal to all members of the community,regardless of where you come from,to abide by these public health orders,” Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna said.
Under the reasonable excuses for leaving the home outlined in the public health order,people are permitted to travel to inspect “a potential new place of residence”.
Speaking in Sydney on Wednesday morning,Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys indicated police were looking into the legitimacy of the man’s property search.
“There is the appointments that are made,the time that’s taken,there’s a whole range of things that police can investigate to see whether that journey was bona fide in terms of its reasonableness in terms of the orders,” he said.
It has also been reported that he had been in Sydney with his wife,who was a confirmed case of COVID-19,before leaving to spend six days in Byron Bay and surrounding communities.
Mr Radovanovic’s family moved to Rose Bay from Forestville on the northern beaches last year,selling the house for $2.2 million.
It has emerged Mr Radovanovic has historical convictions for burglary,theft,criminal damage,drug and forgery offences – a record that was scrutinised when he successfully appealed a federal government attempt to cancel his visa and deport him to Serbia.
In 2000,Administrative Appeals Tribunal deputy president B.M. Forrest said he was “not satisfied that[Mr Radovanovic] passes the character test” but exercised his discretion to allow him to stay in Australia.
On Tuesday,Byron Shire mayor Michael Lyon said the man “came up from Sydney in late July,ostensibly to look at real estate”.
Cr Lyon said he was told the man,whose two teenage children have also tested positive and are at the same hospital,wasn’t checking in anywhere and has “apparently been quite evasive with questions”.
The man had “nothing in his phone in terms of QR codes,didn’t believe in COVID”,Cr Lyon said.
Contact tracing investigations revealed the man had visited several venues in the area while infectious from August 2 to 7. Close contacts include visitors and staff at the Foodworks supermarket in Bangalow,Woolworths in Byron Bay,Bangalow Pharmacy,Japonaise Kitchen in Byron Bay,Byron Massage Clinic,the Ampol Service Station in Byron and Harvest at Newrybar.
Japonaise Kitchen posted a message to Instagram on Tuesday,saying it was forced to close until at least August 20 while staff isolate,and its ability to reopen would depend “on the condition that the staff workers are in”.
Harvest,a restaurant,bakery,deli and wedding venue just over 10 kilometres south-west of Byron Bay township,was running its takeaway operation on Wednesday morning after it was deep cleaned on Tuesday.
In a post to Instagram,co-owner Tristan Grier said the man visited the venue on Saturday morning,picked up a coffee and perused the bakery.
Mr Grier said police spoke to staff about protocols on Monday “and we followed those to a tee”. Half of the venue’s staff were tested and are in isolation for 14 days,he said.
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