By Dominique Tassell
Southern Downs MP James Lister has called on the community to support our local clubs during Covid-19.
Mr Lister’s call comes as the Condamine Sports Club and the Warwick RSL Club have reported significant falls in patronage following Warwick’s brief Covid-19 scare last week.
Speaking from Parliament House in Brisbane, Mr Lister said “our local clubs are terrific places to relax and socialise, and they do a lot of good in our community”.
“And our clubs provide employment for many locals too, so we need to support them in return,” said Mr Lister, who wants to see people return to their local clubs for dining, gaming and drinks.
Mr Lister, who is the Patron of the Warwick RSL Club, argues that the success of measures such as vaccination, contact tracing and community awareness means that we can continue to do the things we love safely.
“We’ve had great success in dealing with COVID in Queensland, and no outbreaks occurred in Warwick and Goondiwindi when COVID positive people passed through at the start of the month”, said Mr Lister.
“So I think there’s no reason not to get back down to the Condy Club, or the Warwick or Stanthorpe RSLs for a good time like we’ve always done before”, he said.
Condamine Sports Club manager Stephen Domjahn, and any staff members who were at the club between 1 to 2 pm on Monday 1 November and all day Tuesday 2 November, all got tested at the showgrounds clinic and came back negative for Covid-19.
Stephen initially said it was very unlikely that anyone contracted the virus from the man who visited the Condamine Sports Club, as his contact with others was very limited.
“Better safe than sorry, though,” Stephen said.
He emphasised that all staff, even staff in totally different areas of the club, had gone to get tested.
“The incident happened almost two weeks ago,” he said at the time. “And staff have shown no symptoms.”
“If they had shown any I would have told them to go get tested immediately.”
The club is cleaned daily, and the staff have always abided by Covid-safe practices.
Sarah from Warwick RSL says that all the staff members who came into contact with the man who tested positive have now gone to get tested and the RSL is regularly cleaned in line with guidelines.
