A Melbourne influencer who broadcast to her 166,000 followers that she was breaching the city’s strict Stage 4 lockdown restrictions has been forced to issue an apology.
On the weekend, Beck Lomas, 25, told her Instagram stories that she was going to run for “as long as I feel like”, after already exercising that morning.
Currently, Melburnians are only allowed to exercise once per day, for no more than one hour per day, between the hours of 5am and 8pm and within a 5km radius of their home.
Lomas was giving her followers an update on the Fitbit Couples Challenge she was doing with her partner, Josh Klein.
“I’m in the lead because I went for a walk without telling him,” she said. “We’re both going to exercise this afternoon, but I kind of feel like just going for a really big run, so I’m just going to set out and go for as long as I feel like.”
There was some pretty major backlash on Instagram. People have called her everything from “disrespectful” to “a princess”, with one person commenting: “As someone who has lost someone due to covid, I cannot find words to say how disgusting this is. People are dying. Innocent people.”
Following the backlash, Lomas issued an apology, saying it was a simple mistake but one she wouldn’t be repeating.
“I wanted to write this post to acknowledge the attention I’m receiving for breaking the lockdown restrictions,” she said.
“On Saturday, I went for a walk with my housemate for my birthday while Josh set up for my surprise. We lost track of time and did a couple of extra laps around the lake while Josh got everything ready. We were wearing masks and socially distancing the entire time while also keeping within the 5KM radius of our apartment. Without thinking, I shared the activity on my stories, which showed that we’d been outside for longer than allowed. Once I realised what I’d done, what this was promoting, and how wrong it actually was, I deleted the stories.
“I’d like to express how sorry I am for what I’ve done. I’m not going to make excuses for it or try to spin the situation to make it sound better than it was. I’m a human and I made a mistake. I meant absolutely no harm to anyone however can now see the seriousness of the situation.”
Lomas said she was otherwise taking the pandemic “very seriously”, including wearing a mask, working from home and not seeing friends – all of which are required by current public health orders, and which carry a $1,652 on-the-spot fine for breaches.
“If you’re feeling anger towards me, please all I ask is that you think twice before commenting or messaging me, I’m being inundated with threats and abuse. I know that what I did was wrong and I have learnt from it,” she said.
“I take full responsibility and I will absolutely never do it again.”
Lomas appears to have been not only booted from Fitbit’s Couple Challenge, but has had her “working relationship” with the brand terminated, too.
“Regrettably, a participant breached Victorian COVID-19 restrictions by exercising outside of their home for longer than one hour,” a Fitbit spokesperson told PEDESTRIAN.TV.
“This was done at their own discretion and was not a directive from Fitbit. As a result, we have cancelled the challenge and terminated our working relationship with the participant.”
In a public comment, Fitbit said: “To everyone doing the right thing, thank you. We pledge to be a positive brand model in this fight too. Stay safe everyone.”
Victoria has recorded several of its deadliest days in a row, with 59 people dying in the space of three days. State authorities are urging people to follow public health orders and isolate as much as possible.
Stage 4 lockdowns are set to lift on September 13, but stay-at-home orders are expected to remain for several months longer.
