COVID-19 health experts disagree on whether to issue fines for lying to contact tracers

As South Australian police investigate a pizza worker accused of lying to contact tracers, leading disease experts are at odds over whether penalties should be imposed for deceiving health authorities.

The discovery of the man’s lie prompted South Australian authorities to cut short the state’s lockdown by three days and Premier Steven Marshall vowed to “throw the book” at him.

But there is no specific penalty in South Australia, or anywhere else in the country, for…