Mounted police on Oz beaches as cases soar

MOUNTED police have taken to the beaches of New South

Wales as record infection rates led to further crackdowns on people flouting restrictions.

Those breaking Covid rules in Sydney and surrounding areas face fines that have been increased from £530 to as much as £2,650.

Australia’s most populous state saw a record spike in daily infections, surging by 466 in 24 hours, eclipsing the previous daily high of 390 set on Friday.

The rise has cast doubt on whether Sydney will end its nine-week lockdown on August 28 as planned.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian described the fight against Covid as a war.

She said: “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 has been in.”

She added: “We will get through this but September and October are going to be very difficult.

“This is literally a war, and we’ve known we’ve been in a war for some time but never to this extent.”

Hundreds more defence personnel will be deployed to Sydney this week, to help enforce the restrictions.

The authorities are particularly concerned about the spread to several regional towns, which are to enter a strict seven-day lockdown.

Fines will apply to people entering rural areas without a permit, while stay-at-home orders were introduced for seven days in some districts not currently restricted.

New South Wales police commissioner Mick Fuller said: “The fines are some of the biggest that I’ve ever seen and we will be issuing them as of today.

“Those people that have been getting around the orders, taking family vacations to other premises – that is over.”

Russia reported a new record of 819 daily Covid deaths yesterday, bringing the total to 169,683. In Japan, Tokyo’s new cases hit 5,094, a day after its record of 5,773.