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Police Commissioner Andrew Coster says police staff working on the anti-vaccine mandate protest at Parliament for some days have contracted Covid-19.
He told Morning Report while police can’t link transmission to the protest, with people coming far and wide for the demonstration, he would be surprised if there was no Covid-19 among protestors at Parliament.
"We haven't been able to specifically link it, but we've had a team of staff who have been working on the protest for some days affected. So, you know, I think it stands to reason that Covid be there, and if it's not already it will be soon."
The protest, which is in its third week, is becoming grimmer as tensions grow between protesters and the police.
On Tuesday police had a "stinging substance" thrown at them, and a car attempted to drive into officers.
Coster said the environment at the protest is making it difficult to police normally and the focus is on returning to a peaceful and normal state.
He estimates there are 400 to 500 protesters on site permanently.