Getting on the beers was top of the list after coronavirus iso restrictions lifted. You could practically hear the whole of Australia have the same magical, heart-stopping, three-letter exchange: “Pub?”
However, our worst nightmare has come true this weekend, after South Western Sydney pub, Casula’s Crossroads Hotel, has been reported as a confirmed cluster hotspot for COVID, with thousands of patrons being told to go into mandatory quarantine over the next 14-days.
Patrons are being told to self-isolate after Sydney pub becomes a confirmed coronavirus hotspot, prompting fears of increased restrictions across NSW.
This comes as reports suggest that Australia could relapse into a second wave of coronavirus after Victoria re-entered lockdown with cases surging in the hundreds. Yesterday the state recorded the second-highest daily increase since the beginning of the pandemic, at 273.
Currently, the cluster at Casula sits at 9 confirmed cases, but authorities say these figures are expected to go up. They are now warning anyone who visited the Crossroads Hotel between July 3 and 10 to self-isolate and get tested.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Michael Kidd said the Crossroads Hotel is a worry because the pub was a popular stop for truck drivers travelling up and down the east coast, saying that, “[The Crossroads Hotel] is a really important issue for everyone across the country.”
Currently, those who have tested positive span from South-West Sydney to the Blue Mountains to Victoria, with more than 1600 customers reportedly attending the pub from July 3 to 10. Authorities expect to see the effects of the Crossroads pop-up across all of Australia.
NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian says NSW is now on “high alert” and “literally at a crossroads”:
“We have literally the next few weeks to continue on the strong path we’ve been on, otherwise we will go down the path of Victoria,” she said. “Do not be surprised if the government takes decisions to further reduce the risk in the next month in particular of community transmission getting to a stage where it is out of control.”
Understandably, people aren’t taking the news too well:
Wow, that Crossroads Hotel must be something else. Seems the whole fucking country was there last Friday evening …
— Mad Fucking Witches (@MadFckingWitch) July 13, 2020
did anyone not have dinner at the crossroads hotel
— Josh Bornstein (@JoshBBornstein) July 13, 2020
Not sure whether I should be relieved or upset that I wasn’t invited to a shindig at the Crossroads Hotel on Friday.
I mean, I live in Canberra and all, but apparently everyone else in this bloody country was there.
— Griptread (@Griptread) July 13, 2020
