A kebab shop in Brisbane has been slapped with a $6,772 after an impromptu, 3 AM rave broke out in a most un-COVID-safe fashion.
Footage of late-night punters letting lose while grabbing a feed was posted to TikTok and Twitter. Their song of choice: “Pump It Up” by Endor.
For police, this footage was enough evidence to determine that the Brunswick Street Mall kebab joint had breached lockdown restrictions.
“Business operators and patrons are reminded to adhere to public health directions including social distancing measures at all times to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading in Queensland,” the Queensland Police said in a statement.
@balaclint1.5 metres pls guys ???? ##fyp ##foryoupage ##fortitudevalley ##viral ##foryou ##covid♬ original sound – balaclint
Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski previously told reporters the footage was “extremely disappointing”.
“So the message to all of those persons, and a lot of them are young people, I hate to say — so, sorry young people — is to have a think before you go out about the impacts of your not abiding by the social distancing in the community and what that means,” he said.
However, Gollschewski said that, in general, it might be punters who are to blame and not staff. Hypothetically, it’s kind of hard to kick our a bunch of customers who are practically moshing in your store at 3 AM.
“Because the licensed premises are by and large doing the right thing, it’s the people that are attending the store aren’t quite getting the message that we would like to see,” he added.
COVID has brought about a lot of ‘unprecedented’ moments… but I feel like this Valley kebab shop dance party takes the cake 💃 .@QldPolice are looking into it .@7NewsBrisbane pic.twitter.com/flzEH15q2n
— Georgie Chumbley (@G_Chumbley) August 23, 2020
The fines come just days after the Queensland Government released a public health alert for more than 40 venues around Brisbane, owing to coronavirus scares.
Maybe save the tunes for home, for the time being.
