Fairfield is one of the worst-hit areas in the Sydney outbreak of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.
According to Bennett, the man had travelled in a car from Sydney to Goulburn and returned with three other men, who were also painters working on a $150 million redevelopment of the Goulburn Hospital.
“He was pretty well working on his own in a section of the hospital,” he said. “He never went anywhere in Goulburn, and to our knowledge, he never left the hospital. That’s what he’s told health authorities. We are very hopeful he didn’t have close contact with other contractors on the site.”
The man’s three travelling companions have all returned negative COVID-19 tests at this time.
However, the man’s case has raised the issue of essential workers from COVID hotspots travelling to the regions.
“How is a painter an essential worker who qualifies for an exemption (to travel from southwest Sydney to the region?” Kirk said. “If this was needed so badly, surely we could have found a local. I don’t accept that just because he’s working on the hospital, there’s a need to travel outside those hotspots...Obviously, the definition is too loose.”