A family of five all infected with Covid-19 have been caught blatantly breaching home quarantine orders in the Melbourne hotspot that effectively forced the entire state of Victoria into hard lockdown for the sixth time.
The Newport family, in Melbourne’s west, tested positive to the virus on Monday last week – but have disgusted neighbours in their quiet street by routinely leaving their home while knowing they have Covid and are infectious.
The family, which Daily Mail Australia has chosen not to identify, had been free to infect the community despite multiple calls to police from neighbours – who claim their calls are simply ignored by authorities.
Victorian health officials approach a Covid-infected resident at the door of his Newport property on Monday. The family argued with two officers, complaining that they needed to eat
Victorian health officials arrived at the Newport property on Monday afternoon hours after another crew had done a ‘drive by’ check on the family
The area the family lives within in and around Newport and Altona North, in Melbourne’s west, is littered with Covid-19 danger zones
Victoria’s active Covid cases continue to rise amid ‘lockdown fatigue’ during the state’s sixth hard lockdown
Daily Mail Australia has been provided several videos of the family actively breaching the lockdown orders and on Monday watched on as their eldest daughter returned to the premises after Department of Health and Human Services officers left last night.
The maskless child had been free in the community all day and was turned away by her father, who shouted at her to leave from behind a window.
Hours earlier, another team of health officers had checked on the family in what appeared to be a box-ticking exercise in a neighbourhood teeming with Covid cases.
Daily Mail Australia observed three health workers dressed in full PPE approach the home from inside the comfort of a white van displaying probationary driver plates.
The infected father of the clan appeared from the front door of his home and spoke to the health workers via mobile phone.
While two of his children presented at the door, his wife was nowhere to be seen and his eldest daughter – who is also infected with the virus – was not even home.
It would be hours before another team of health workers returned, after receiving inquiries from Daily Mail Australia as to how it was handling the infected family.
It is understood the Victorian health department has engaged the services of ex-police and security experts to deal with problematic Victorians in home detention.
The workers demanded to see the children’s mother, whom Daily Mail Australia has been told had been actively avoiding being tested.
Victorian health officials investigated the infected family’s bins before going door-to-door and obtaining evidence
Brave health officers were forced to confront the angry family after colleagues did a drive-by of the home earlier and failed to even check if the family was actually all home
She was seen engaging in a heated argument with one health official, who was dressed head to toe in protective clothing.
‘We have to eat,’ the woman shouted.
The health workers were seen taking photos and going through the family’s bins before door knocking the neighbourhood to obtain evidence of the family’s breaches.
We have to eat. Infected resident shouted at health workers
They would return on Tuesday – accompanied this time with police officers – with a ‘detention notice’ warning the family they would be fined $10,000 each and taken into hotel quarantine should they be caught breaching home detention again.
Daily Mail Australia heard several neighbours complain that the family had been receiving maskless visitors inside the home in addition to each and everyone of them leaving the premises for days on end.
It is understood a large section of residents living along the same street are locked in isolation themselves after becoming infected.
Victoria’s health department failed to respond to a series of questions put to it about the family on Monday.
It has been a regular snub by the health department throughout the pandemic.
A spokeswoman for Victoria Police claimed it had no record of any complaints being received from members of the public, despite being provided the exact times and dates on several calls.
The infected male was seen talking to health officials dressed in full PPE just after midday on Monday. Only two children presented themselves alongside him. His eldest daughter would return home later that day, only to be sent off back to the vehicle she had been dropped off in
The house has three infected children inside, but only two were home when health officials checked on them on Monday.
The children’s mother was seen in a heated exchange with health officials on Monday afternoon. Her eldest child would return home minutes after the officers left. But her parents turned her away
A department of health insider confirmed to Daily Mail Australia the family had all tested positive to the virus on Monday last week.
‘They’re all red. It’s just intolerable and we need co-operation from the community to close them down,’ the insider said.
‘I think everyone in Victoria has had enough of this entire discussion. Every Victorian wants this to be over and we are absolutely seeing people saying “it’s just too hard. Covid commander Jeroen Weimar
On Tuesday, Newport and its adjoining suburb Altona North remained littered with Tier 1 and 2 public exposure sites – many of them within a stone’s throw of the infected family’s home.
The Newport cluster has been a thorn in the side of all Victorians since the virus found its way into Al-Taqwa College Islamic school via a teacher last month.
A nearby resident of the infected family, who wished to remain anonymous out of fear of reprisals from the tight-knit community that lives in the area, said she was appalled by the family’s total disregard for the safety of the wider community.
The neighbour expressed further anger at Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’ soft response.
‘So Nadia Bartel has been fined. She’s not positive – she’s out doing the wrong thing. But how can you then have the same consequences for someone who knows they’re positive and is supposed to be isolating? It’s just messed up.’
A brave health official tasked with confronting Victorians who are blatantly breaching home detention orders. More health officials visited the family on Tuesday, but could only issue a warning despite evidence the family was breaching quarantine
Melbourne’s western suburbs have become a hotspot for Covid-19
A person receives a Covid test at a pop-up test site in Altona North in Melbourne on August 30
On Monday, Victorian Covid commander Jeroen Weimar claimed while the health department continued to engage regularly with infected community members, it was proving increasingly ineffective.
‘We are absolutely encountering fatigue,’ he said.
‘I think everyone in Victoria has had enough of this entire discussion. Every Victorian wants this to be over and we are absolutely seeing people saying “it’s just too hard. I can’t do this anymore” and we’re seeing small breaches here and there of all those rules that have held this back for so long.’
Victoria recorded 246 new locally acquired infections on Tuesday, including 156 more mystery cases.
There are nearly 1800 active cases across the state.
‘We are battling fatigue and frustration at the same time … if fatigue overcomes frustration then what we’ll see is the number of cases will continue to increase,’ Mr Weimar said.
‘All those small breaches will continue to spread the virus and at some point we’ll start to see that spread beyond those inner north and inner western suburbs into much broader settings.’
‘But with positive members of the community continuing to remain free in the community with merely the threat of fines, those at the front line believe the battle is already lost.
‘If they think any of this lot will ever pay a fine, they’re dreaming,’ a police source told Daily Mail Australia.