World News | 3 Women Face Jail Term in Australia for Creating Coronavirus Scare
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. Three women in Australia, including a teenager, are facing jail term and fines for allegedly giving false information to travel from the country's coronavirus hotspot state to another state, creating panic after two of them tested positive for COVID-19.
Melbourne, Jul 30 (PTI) Three women in Australia, including a teenager, are facing jail term and fines for allegedly giving false information to travel from the country's coronavirus hotspot state to another state, creating panic after two of them tested positive for COVID-19.
Olivia Winnie Muranga, Diana Lasu and an unidentified friend arrived together in Brisbane (Queensland) from Melbourne (Victoria) on July 21.
The trio threw a party in an apartment in Melbourne city. Queensland police allege that two of them, who have now tested positive to COVID-19, deliberately falsified records to enter the state and skipped quarantine.
According to media reports here, charges have been laid against Muranga and Diana, who have now tested positive to COVID-19 and another 19-year-old woman, who has returned a negative test.
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The three are in quarantine now and will face Brisbane Magistrates Court on September 28.
Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said police would allege the women "deliberately falsified records to get back into Queensland".
The state police said the three were are now facing fines of up to 13,345 Australian dollar fine and a maximum of five years behind bars.
Public health alerts were triggered across Brisbane's south following the two women visits to schools, restaurants and medical centre post their arrival.
Queensland has currently sealed its borders with Victoria, the coronavirus hotspot of Australia.
Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said the two young women went to "extraordinary lengths" to conceal where they had been and carried out "criminal deceit".
Australia has so far reported 5,800 cases of coronavirus and 190 deaths.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)