‘Throw the book at them!’ Karl Stefanovic unleashes on Qld coronavirus teens

Queenslanders were furious on Wednesday as it was revealed that two 19-year-old women had returned from Melbourne on July 21 and opted to spend eight days in the community, ignoring the state’s strict rules around quarantine, despite showing symptoms of Covid-19. Both women tested positive for the virus, marking Queensland’s first cases outside of hotel quarantine since May.

Overnight it was reported that the teens – along with a travel companion who is awaiting their test results – will each be slapped with a $4,000 fine, however many believe that punishment is not harsh enough, including Today show host Karl Stefanovic who called on law enforcement to “throw the book at them”.

During this morning’s episode of the Channel Nine breakfast program, Karl unleashed on the 19-year-old women, branding their actions “stupid”, according to News.com.au. He said: “I think the inconvenience and also just the anxiousness that was produced by these two girls, it warrants having a look at the fines. I know it is a state-by-state thing, but I feel very strongly that the fines don’t fit the potential damage that can be caused and obviously these people aren’t worried about fines at this point. I think we need to at least double, triple, quadruple the fines.”

Karl continued: “They didn’t give the right information, they’ve travelled into Sydney and then they’ve gone into Brisbane, providing the wrong information. And now what’s happened is there’s a shutdown. Now, their stupid actions are going to cost the Queensland economy. They’re going to cost businesses around Brisbane.

“They’re going to cost potentially the freedoms of people travelling in and out of the state obviously. They’ve caused all that stress for those people and I think it’s time that authorities stepped up and really increased the fines and increased all the things that need to be done in order to stop people from doing it, to make them think twice, because of the ramifications of stupid actions are now beyond.”

Two teens have sparked outrage among Queenslanders after they allegedly made false declarations about travelling to Melbourne. #9Today pic.twitter.com/GAU1Lqzajf

— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) July 29, 2020

Many viewers agreed with Karl and slammed the girls for their behaviour, with one writing: “Love seeing Karl calling out these abhorrent behaviours. As a high risk person it is so nice so hear him advocating for us. I am still not over his reaction to that mask lady a couple days ago!!!” Another commented: “Bloody disgraceful, their stupidity has caused so much upset. A strong penalty must be considered.”

However others questioned the media’s decision to name and photograph the girls, pointing out that other people who had been at the centre of Covid-19 clusters had not received the same treatment. One viewer commented on Twitter: “How come you are showing their faces and not everyone who tests positive? I do not agree with what they have done and they should be punished severely but you now put their immediate family at risk of attack.”

Another wrote: “I am appalled that you are showing their photos and identifying them! What about the ‘super-spreader’ who brought it to Casula Hotel or who spread it around both Thai Rock … no patients have been identified in the past.”

Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Dr Jeanette Young confirmed the news on Wednesday and chastised the two women, branding their behaviour as “reckless”. “It is very disappointing this has occurred. Two young women returned from Melbourne, which we know is an absolute hot spot with a lot of cases, return from Melbourne on the 21 July via Sydney and now tested positive,” Dr Young said.

“As a result of that, a lot of people are going to be inconvenienced. And I do apologise to those people for what is now going to have to do occur. But we know that if we act really fast now we can stop this spreading further and cause even more inconvenience to a lot of people.”

A third positive case linked to the 19-year-old girls has since been confirmed, believed to be one of the girls’ sisters, while extensive contact tracing is currently underway in the southern suburbs of Brisbane. As a result the Queensland border will also close to all Sydneysiders from Saturday, with the entire Greater Sydney area now classified as a coronavirus ‘hot spot’.

Queensland’s Health Minister Steven Miles confirmed on Thursday morning that the state had recorded three new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, however these cases are not linked to the 19-year-old girls. One was a return traveller from the United States who is in hotel quarantine, along with a couple who recently returned from Sydney and went into self isolation voluntarily.