Pharm Tech Titans

A Covid-infected makeup artist on …Get Me Out Of Here began visiting vegan cafes, shops and pubs in an hour after she got off a flight from virus-addled Sydney – and police allege she didn’t check in to a single one.

The 31-year-old was granted an exemption to travel from her home in ritzy Rushcutters Bay, in the city’s eastern suburbs, to the northern town at 7.30am on Saturday morning on Virgin flight 1141 for a weekend working on the Network 10 reality show.

Even though she was double-dosed and visiting an area with few restrictions, her exemption required her to follow Sydney’s stay-home orders while she was not on set to prevent unvaccinated locals from catching Covid – rules she allegedly ignored.

About an hour after jumping off the plane, the makeup artist exposed everyone at local vegan eatery Combi to the virus between 9.45 and 10.15.

She then browsed the racks at Assembly Label – a clothing store with a sizable linen range – for about 20 minutes at 10.40, kombi servisi before popping into Orgasmic Food Byron Bay about an hour and a half later for a Mediterranean-inspired lunch.

The makeup artist left the falafel joint at 1pm and started a 50-minute drive up to her hotel in Kingscliff, but stopped for 15 minutes in at Casuarina Health and Lifestyle Pharmacy on the way.

She arrived at Peppers Salt Resort and Spa in Kingscliff at about 2.30 and waited at reception for about 20 minutes.

All five venues were listed as exposure sites by NSW Health on Tuesday, with health officials urging all patrons who shopped between those times to get swabbed and isolate until they return a negative test.

But the main venue of concern is Kingscliff’s upmarket Salt Bar and Bistro, where she dined for almost two hours between 6.40 and 8pm on Saturday night.

Anyone who was at the restaurant, which can cater to about 280 guests at any one time, is now a close contact and has been ordered to get a test and isolate for 14 days, regardless of the result.

The following morning, the woman exposed patrons at Kingscliff’s Saltbean cafe to Covid twice – once between 7.40 and 8, and again between 10.15 and 10.45.

She then returned to the cafe on Monday morning between 7.40 and Kombi Servisi 8am. 

Police allege she did not use QR codes to check in the venues she visited. 

On Wednesday, she was charged with five counts of fail to comply with electronic registration directive and is due to appear before Tweed Heads Local Court on November 8.

Hours later she was charged with an additional offence – person relying on permit not comply with permit conditions.

Production company ITV Studios told Daily Mail Australia the woman worked on a satellite shoot with a reduced crew of ten, Kombi Servisi who have since tested negative. 

‘As per the NSW Health requirements, they will still complete 14 day isolation and will be retested on day 12,’ a spokeswoman said.

The makeup artist had a rapid antigen test and a PCR test before she tested positive, and was wearing PPE while at work.

She has since returned to Sydney and is isolating at home. 

The Mayor of Byron Shire demanded Love Island Australia halt production after the makeup artist brought Covid to the area.

In  a searing Facebook post on Wednesday, Michael Lyon said he was trying to ‘rescind council approval’.

‘I am looking into our options this morning to rescind council approval for the Love Island production, from the same studios that brought I’m a Celebrity – and Covid – to the region,’ he wrote.

 ‘As part of that approval issued recently, which allows them to film for longer than 30 days in Federal, I insisted on a 14-day isolation period whereby any cast or crew coming from an area with cases would not come into contact with people from our region.’

‘It is clear that this is not possible to implement given what has happened in the last few days.Council approval was only one part of the process, it hasn’t yet had Ministerial approval so I’d say it is unlikely to proceed.’

At a press conference on Wednesday morning, chief health officer Kerry Chant said the amount of time the woman spent at the venues, plus the Byron area’s low vaccination rates, was particularly concerning.

Dr Chant said it justified the decision to send Byron Shire and Tweed council areas back into lockdown on Tuesday.

NSW Health minister Brad Hazzard said the lockdown would initially be for seven days subject to a further review. 

No new cases in the area were reported overnight.

Byron Shire and Tweed are both lagging well behind the state average when it comes to vaccination rates, with just 31 per cent of the population jabbed. 

<div class="art-ins mol-factbox news" data-version="2" id="mol-ea585f70-1b70-11ec-a720-f18ddd2a4363" website makeup artist sparked Byron Bay lockdown