Aussie actors Bryan Brown and Rachel Ward shut down Covid-19 rumours

Australian actors Bryan Brown and wife Rachel Ward have been forced to shut down rumours they were the super spreaders of coronavirus in the Northern Beaches of Sydney.

The couple were accused of sparking the recent outbreak in New South Wales, which has now recorded 91 cases of Covid-19. Comments were made online that Brown and Ward had recently returned from an overseas trip and had bypassed hotel quarantine and been allowed to isolate at home. It was then claimed that a gym’s personal trainer visited their home, which led to the virus spreading throughout the community.

But Ward and the gym involved in the rumour have both denied these claims and insisted they had nothing to do with the surge in coronavirus in the region. In a post shared on Instagram on Monday night, Ward said she hasn’t been to the US in years and doesn’t even have a personal trainer.

 

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A post shared by Rachel Ward Official (@rachelwardofficial)

“Just to set the record straight: I haven’t been to [the] US for over five years,” she wrote, alongside a photo of her holding an adorable joey. “I’ve been in [the] mid north coast for [the] past 10 days. I don’t have Covid. Pic taken 15 mins ago. Pick on another witch.”

Meanwhile, Anytime Fitness Avalon also took to social media to put the rumours to bed. “We are in no way affiliated with Bryan Brown and Rachel Ward and none of our trainers have been in contact with either person,” the gym’s post on Facebook read. “It has been brought to our attention that there is a rumour circulating that one of our personal trainers had visited Bryan Brown and Rachel Ward at their home, leading to a spread of infection. THIS IS NOT IN ANY WAY CORRECT. We and the rest of [the] sensible community would urge the media and ill informed to stop playing the blame game victimising innocent individuals and businesses.”

A 9News reporter, Damian Ryan, said yesterday that he had spoken to Brown and was told that neither he or his wife are linked to the coronavirus outbreak. “There is a lot of chatter that Bryan Brown and Rachel Ward were somehow behind the Avalon cluster… I spoke to the actor and he insists he hasn’t been overseas since last year,” Ryan wrote on Twitter.

There is a lot of chatter that Bryan Brown and Rachel Ward were somehow behind the Avalon cluster .. I spoke to the actor and he insists he hasn’t been overseas since last year @9NewsSyd

— Damian Ryan (@DamoNews) December 21, 2020

NSW recorded just eight new cases overnight, seven of which are linked to the Avalon cluster, and one that is under investigation but is believed to be a health-care worker who was helping to transport patients from the international airport.

At a press conference on Tuesday morning, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian expressed her thanks to the more than 44,000 people across the state who came forward for testing on Monday. “Overnight in New South Wales, pleasingly, we only had eight cases of community transmission, seven linked directly to the Avalon cluster, the eighth one … could actually be an overseas-acquired case. It was a transport nurse, someone who worked in [the] transport of patients in quarantine.

“My message to the community is thank you so much for your efforts to date,” she added. “NSW is really pulling together to get through this stage of the pandemic.”

The Northern Beaches region remains in lockdown as the community works to prevent a further spread of Covid-19. The lockdown was initially meant to end at midnight on Wednesday, however the situation is being monitored closely and may change if cases continue to rise.

Those in the Greater Sydney region are also living with tight restrictions in the lead up to Christmas, including a limit of 10 people in homes, a cap of 300 people in hospitality venues and places of worship, and a ban on singing and chanting performances in indoor venues.

The rest of the country has locked out people from these ‘hot zones’ for fear of widespread community transmission, meaning many will now be unable to see their family and friends during the festive season.

Each state and territory has its own rules and regulations, with Western Australia taking the most extreme approach and immediately shutting out the whole of NSW, while others are only excluding people from Greater Sydney and the Central Coast at this stage.