A woman has been issued a Penalty Infringement Notice (PIN) after attempting to flee a hotel in breach of her mandatory hotel quarantine order at the weekend.
About 10pm on Saturday (4 July 2020), police were advised by a security contractor that a female quarantine guest had fled a hotel on Pitt Street, Sydney, in contravention of the Public Health (COVID-19 Air Transportation Quarantine) Order.
Officers were told a guard had confronted the 39-year-old woman as she approached a fire exit and following a short struggle, she ran through the exit and was chased on foot before disappearing from sight.
The guard returned to the hotel and reported the incident to his supervisor, who alerted police inside the hotel.
A police search was initiated, and the woman was located at Circular Quay about 10.45pm and returned to the hotel, before being taken to hospital for assessment.
The Potts Point woman was released from hospital a short time later and transferred to a hotel managed by NSW Health.
She was subsequently issued a $1000 PIN for not comply with noticed direction under the Public Health Act.
As part of inquiries into the incident, police attended the woman’s room and noted the sprinkler systems had been significantly damaged.
Inquiries into the damage are underway and legal action is expected to be taken.
The NSW Police Force is currently managing 19 hotels across Sydney CBD with 5,761 people in mandatory quarantine, while NSW Health has an additional 597 people in six hotels.
Since Sunday 29 March 2020, 33,956 people have entered into mandatory quarantine hotels in NSW, and this is the only PIN issued for a breach of the Public Health (COVID-19 Air Transportation Quarantine) Order.
