Oz flouters to be fined

– Hundreds of coronavirus-infected people in Australia’s worst-hit state have been caught flouting stay-at-home orders, prompting tougher fines.

The southern state of Victoria has endured a second wave of infections over recent weeks that the government has partly blamed on people breaking rules that restrict travel.

Residents of Melbourne, Australia’s second-biggest city and the capital of Victoria, are now enduring an overnight curfew, closure of nonessential businesses and mandatory mask-wearing as hundreds of new cases are recorded daily.

But 800 infected people – or more than 25% of those doorknocked across Victoria – were not at home when authorities conducted recent checks, which state Premier Daniel Andrews called “completely unacceptable”.

Andrews said infected people in Victoria can now be slapped with on-the-spot fines of almost Aus$5 000 (about R62 000), up from $1 652, if they are caught leaving home a second time And $20 000 for serious rule-breakers.

The only exception will be to seek emergency medical care. Previously, outdoor exercise was allowed. – AFP