Police FINALLY issue the first fines for breaking coronavirus rules – including a tourist who returned from Bali and refused to self-quarantine
- NSW Police have issued fines for people breaking coronavirus quarantine rules
- A woman who breached rules after getting back from Bali is one of five fined
- Officers found out the woman left her home and issued her with a $1,000 fine
- A massage parlour in Sydney was still open and defying a public health order
- The owner was fined $5,000 while three workers were issued fines of $1,000
- Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?
A woman who breached quarantine regulations after returning from Bali is one of five people in New South Wales who have finally been fined for flouting coronavirus public health orders.
Officers from Thursday had the power to hand out fines of $1,000 to individuals and $5,000 to businesses that breach public health orders or ministerial directions.
The 65-year-old tourist returned to Sydney from Bali on Saturday and was told she was subject to a public health order and was required to quarantine for 14 days.
Officers from Thursday had the power to hand out fines of $1,000 to individuals and $5,000 to businesses that breach public health orders or ministerial directions
But when police received information the woman contravened the public health order and visited her home in Redhead, south of Newcastle, she was issued with a warning for breaching the order.
Officers received further information she had left her home on Thursday morning and was in breach of the order.
About 1.45pm on Thursday officers returned to the woman’s home and issued her with a $1,000 penalty infringement notice.
A massage parlour on Sussex St in Sydney’s CBD was identified on Thursday as still operating and defying a public health order.
The female owner of the business was issued with a $5,000 penalty infringement notice.
Three female staff members were also given $1,000 notices.
‘No one is above the law. If you decide to ignore a direction, you will be caught, and you may very well find yourself slapped with a hefty fine,’ Minister for Police and Emergency Services David Elliott said in a statement on Thursday.
‘The fact that people are still not complying is the reason why we have police out in full force enforcing these directions.
‘This behaviour is not only reckless and stupid, but potentially deadly.’
People in the firing line include returned travellers who contravene the requirement to self-quarantine for 14 days and those diagnosed with COVID-19 who similarly don’t follow the rules
People in the firing line include returned travellers who contravene the requirement to self-quarantine for 14 days and those diagnosed with COVID-19 who similarly don’t follow the rules.
Fines will also apply for breaches of the prohibition on outdoor gatherings of 500 people and indoor gatherings of 100 people.
It follows the passing of legislation in the NSW parliament on Tuesday to help tackle the spread.
Under the bill, police are able to arrest people reasonably suspected of breaching COVID-19 public health orders and return them home or to a place of detention.
It comes as a two-month-old boy and a seven-year-old girl became the first children under 10 to contract COVID-19 in NSW.
The children both had contact with people with coronavirus, NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said on Wednesday.
They are among the 1,219 confirmed coronavirus cases in the state. Of those, about 500 people contracted the disease while overseas.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the public needs to step up to slow the spread of the virus which has so far killed nine people in Australia, including seven in NSW.
She backed new public restrictions announced by the prime minister on Tuesday night to control the spread of COVID-19.
‘This is a time that all of us have to step up,’ Ms Berejiklian said.
‘We need to make sure the community does the right thing by yourself, your family and others.’
The premier said there will be thresholds in place allowing NSW to take further action, separate to other states, once the number of community transmissions reaches a set amount.
Planning Minister Rob Stokes on Wednesday said usual planning controls restricting trading hours had been scrapped to allow for round-the-clock trading for supermarkets and pharmacies to make it easier for consumers to buy food and medical supplies.
State Opposition Leader Jodi McKay said NSW must be placed in full lockdown.
‘We are losing control of COVID-19 and if we don’t lock down NSW the current spike will turn into a full-blown explosion,’ the Labor leader said in a statement.
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