Some were blatantly caught out breaking the rules, while others made the news through no fault of their own by unknowingly passing on the virus.You wouldn’t be alone if the 107 days NSW spent in lockdown blurred together, so here is a reminder of some of the biggest incidents from the pandemic that made headlines.June 16: Patient zeroLimousine driver Michael Podgoetsky tests positive after transporting international flight crew from the airport. The outbreak spread rapidly in Bondi Westfield after Mr Podgoetsky visited several venues in the area while infectious. Health officials claimed he was ‘patient zero’, but he always maintained he was not. He is not accused of any wrongdoing.June 19: Hoxton Park party The virus takes hold in south western Sydney after a superspreader party in Hoxton Park. Unbeknownst to the 30 guests at the party, one of the attendees worked at Bondi Westfield and was carrying the virus. 24 attendees tested positive for Covid-19. Health authorities take two days to lock Sydney down after missing some party guests who were infectious in the community. June 20: Five Bulldogs players caught attending two pubs in SydneyDylan Napa, Corey Waddell, Sione Katoa, Brandon Wakeham and Aaron Schoupp attend Coogee Bay Hotel and Royal Hotel, three days after the NRL had prohibited players from attending restaurants, pubs or bars in the Waverley or Randwick Local Government Areas. The five players were issued individual breach notices with a total of $9750 in suggested fines. Napa’s breach notice carried a $5,000 fine. The Bulldogs were also whacked with a $50,000 fine after the NRL alleged that the Belmore club failed to explain the change in Covid restrictions leaving players “confused”.June 24: MPs locked out of Parliament House after Adam Marshall tested positiveParliament was thrown into high alert following the announcement that Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall had tested positive for Covid-19. Mr Marshall had dinner with three other Nationals politicians at Christo’s Pizzeria before testing positive to the virus three days later. Marshall is understood to have visited various other minister’s offices while infectious, which sent tens of staffers into isolation.June 25: Cronulla Sharks player Josh Dugan visited Potts Point restaurantJosh Dugan spotted at a restaurant in Potts Point on Saturday night after the NRL had imposed new restrictions on their players. Fined $25,000 and required to self-isolate for 14 days. The Cronulla Sharks star was also allegedly found by police in Lithgow, 150km from his Gymea home on August 20 while the state was still in lockdown. He was charged with COVID-19 breaches to which he has pleaded not guilty and remains before the courts. Dugan was forced to retire from rugby league because he could not afford to pay an approximate $150,000 in combined Covid breach fines from the NRL.June 26: Gladys resists tougher measures Premier Gladys Berejiklian refuses to introduce tougher lockdown rules until lockdown in western Sydney on July 17. Health authorities tried to contain the virus by locking down residents and workers from the Woollahra, Waverley, Randwick and the city of Sydney council areas, but the highly contagious Delta mutation of the Covid virus had already running rampant in greater Sydney.July 3: Dragons players gathered at Paul Vaughan’s Shellharbour homeSt George Illawarra Dragons’ BBQ cost Paul Vaughan his $800,000 contract. 13 players who attended also fined $1000 from the police as well as heavy punishment from the NRL. Jack de Belin was hit with a $42,000 fine and a one match suspension after allegedly hiding under a bed to escape the attention of police while Corey Norman will fork out $50,000 as well as sit out one game. The rest of the players were also suspended for one match with fines taking into account past indiscretions and varying salaries.July 16: Removalists’ breach sparks deathThree removalists, Maryo Shanki, 21, and twin brothers Ramsin and Roni Shawka, 27, had travelled from Western Sydney to central NSW for work. The men were in Orange when NSW Health called to tell one of the men he had returned a positive coronavirus test, but they continued along their route to Molong about 30 minutes away to finish the delivery. Days later, their mother Saeeda died in their Green Valley home after also contracting the infection. The men were all convicted on one count of not complying with Covid orders, fined and handed a one-year community corrections order.July 24: Anti-lockdown rallySeveral people are arrested and 90 issued with infringement notices after an anti-lockdown protest sweeps through Sydney CBD. Thousands of Sydneysiders, ranging from out-of-work tradies to conspiracy theorists brought the city to a standstill to protest against the lockdown restrictions. Covid-deniers continued to protest throughout August and September with NSW Police even prohibiting rideshare and passenger services from taking residents to the city’s centre on planned protest days.August 6: Byron plunged into lockdown The Byron, Richmond Valley, Lismore, and Ballina local government areas thrown into lockdown after Zoran Radovanovic and his son Kristan travelled from Sydney to Northern NSW to look at a property.Zoran subsequently pleaded guilty to seven breaches of Covid-19 directions, and Kristian guilty to four. Kristian was fined a total of $35,000, while his father is yet to be sentenced as he has been overseas since late-2021.An arrest warrant was issued in December.
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