Lockdown fines hiked as NSW sees record jump in daily cases

SYDNEY: On-the-spot fines for people breaking lockdown rules in Sydney and the rest of its home state of New South Wales have been raised sharply to as much as A$5,000 (RM15,570) as the state logged a record jump in daily new Covid-19 infections.

State police would fine people for breaching stay-at-home orders or for lying to contact-tracing officials, said state Premier Gladys Berejiklian.

Previously breaching quarantine orders had carried a A$1,000 (RM3,110) fine.

“We have to accept that this is the worst situation New South Wales has been in since day one. And it’s also regrettably, because of that, the worst situation Australia’s been in,” she told a news conference.

Locally transmitted infections surged by a record 466 over the previous 24 hours, eclipsing the previous daily high of 390 set on Friday. Four deaths were recorded yesterday, taking the state’s total in the latest outbreak to 42.

It is becoming increasingly unlikely that Sydney will end its nine-week lockdown on Aug 28 as planned.

Authorities had been talking about easing some restrictions if enough people were vaccinated and case numbers fell.

“We will get through this, but September and October are going to be very difficult,” Berejiklian said.

Hundreds more defence personnel will be deployed next week to Sydney to help enforce the lockdown, with authorities particularly concerned about the spread of the virus to several regional towns.

Stay-at-home orders will also be introduced for regional areas not currently in lockdown and a new A$3,000 (RM9,340) fine will apply to people entering regional areas without an official permit.

The permit will only be granted for certain reasons including authorised work, property inspections or urgent repairs.