Angry Aussies calls for coronavirus-infected teenagers, 19, who sneaked into Queensland to from Melbourne as he reveals his COVID-19 heartbreak
- Karl Stefanovic has slammed two teenagers who lied about visiting Melbourne
- Olivia Winnie Muranga and Diana Lasu, both 19, travelled to Brisbane on July 21
- Queensland is bracing for COVID-19 outbreak after the teenagers tested positive
Karl Stefanovic has slammed two teenagers who lied about travelling to Melbourne before flying into Queensland from Sydney and testing positive to coronavirus.
The Today host said he was ‘appalled’ by Olivia Winnie Muranga and Diana Lasu’s extraordinary disregard for COVID-19 rules, as Victoria battles a deadly second wave of infections.
Stefanovic’s comments came after he interviewed the daughter of a COVID-19 patient, and made an emotional reveal on Thursday that the woman has since died.
Kathy Bourinaris’ 77-year-old mum Fotini contracted coronavirus at St Basil’s aged care home in Melbourne’s north and died overnight.
Olivia Winnie Muranga (left) and Diana Lasu, (right) both 19, arrived together in Brisbane from Melbourne via Sydney on July 21
‘Some very sad news if you are just joining us to report that Kathy’s mother has now passed away,’ Stefanovic said on Thursday morning.
‘Our hearts go out to Kathy, and her entire family. It is a heartbreaking reminder on why the whole country needs to take this pandemic seriously and abide by border and quarantine rules.
‘It is for their sake.
‘That is why this morning we are all appalled by the actions of these two teenagers. 19-year-old Olivia Winnie Maranga and Diana Lasso fined $4,000 after travelling from Melbourne to Brisbane via Sydney.’
Queensland is now bracing itself for an outbreak, after three more people tested positive to COVID-19 on Thursday – two of whom were isolating after visiting a Sydney restaurant.
On Wednesday, a 22-year-old woman who works at YMCA Chatswood Hills Outside School Hours Care and is known to Ms Muranga and Ms Lasu became the state’s first community transmission of COVID-19 in two months.
Victoria recorded 723 new coronavirus cases overnight with 13 more deaths on Thursday – the state’s highest single-day total since the start of the pandemic.
Melbourne has seen the largest clusters of the respiratory virus, as the city reaches the halfway point of a six-week lockdown.
The 19-year-old girls, from Logan and Park Ridge, returned from Melbourne, via Sydney, on July 21 and spent eight days in the community before testing positive. Ms Muranga is a cleaner at a school.
They are understood to have gone to an illegal party in Melbourne, which is where they are believed to have contracted the virus.
Today host Karl Stefanovic (pictured) said he was ‘appalled’ by Olivia Winnie Muranga and Diana Lasu’s extraordinary disregard for COVID-19 rules
Stefanovic said the pair’s actions had greater ramifications beyond their fines, as Queensland moved to shut its border to Greater Sydney from Saturday.
‘We will see now businesses struggling from Coolangatta all the way to Cairns,’ he said.
‘They will lose so much money, these borders shutting as a result of these two will cost not just the state economy in Queensland but the national economy.
‘$4,000. Let’s amp it up people, let’s make it 50 at least or jail time.
‘It’s worth it and why? To protect our most vulnerable.’
Between them the teenagers visited 11 different venues in Brisbane while infected with COVID-19
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was seething at the breach of COVID-19 protocols.
‘I’m absolutely furious that this has happened,’ Ms Palaszczuk said.
‘We need people to tell the truth … We do not want a second wave here. We do not want widespread community transmission.
‘These two have been out in the community and hopefully it has not spread but time will tell.’
The teens attended a dental practice, five restaurants and bars including two at Southbank, in six different suburbs including South Brisbane, Woodridge, Browns Plains and Sunnybank.
Shopping centres, restaurants, a school and a church have been closed.