NSW police issued nearly 600 infringement notices to people flouting tough new health orders on the first day of a three-week crackdown designed to get the state’s escalating COVID situation under control.
Deputy Commissioner Mal Lanyon said some people were still not complying even after the state recorded a record 478 new local COVID-19 cases and eight deaths on Monday – the state’s worst day of the pandemic.
“Yesterday we issued 579 infringement notices which is disappointing. It shows that people are still not complying. Thirty-four people received court attendant notices,” he told the Nine Network on Tuesday.
Police also conducted 3800 welfare checks to see if people were following stay-at-home orders.
One COVID positive man from the hotspot of Fairfield in Sydney’s southwest wasn’t home when police arrived and was later unable to provide an excuse for his actions, Mr Lanyon said.
The entire state is now locked down and a 21-day police blitz came into effect on Monday to enforce new regulations with almost 18,000 police officers supported by 800 members of the Australian Defence Force.
Tougher non-compliance fines of up to $5000 are now in place with people confined to within five kilometres of their homes.
Police Commissioner Mick Fuller has warned that officers have been told to adopt “a no-nonsense approach” to people deliberately flouting laws.
Meanwhile, Sydney hospitals are dealing with staff shortages as COVID clusters send workers into isolation at Nepean and St George Hospitals.
Greens MP Cate Faehrmann says the government needs to ensure frontline healthcare workers are adequately protected from COVID.
“Doctors and nurses and other healthcare workers have been raising the alarm that they did not have adequate personal protective equipment such as correctly fitted N95 face masks,” she said on Tuesday.
Several schools are shut because of COVID cases including Jamisontown Public School and the Meadows Public School at Schofields in Sydney’s west as well as Blacktown North Public School in southwest Sydney.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Monday described daily infection numbers as “disturbingly high” and warned case numbers in the thousands could result if the statewide lockdown fails to work.
A “test and isolate” payment of $320 will also start this week for workers aged 17 and over who have symptoms and need a COVID-19 test and live in the government’s areas of concern.
But the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union NSW said the payment should be extended to all workers statewide.
Better Regulation Minister Kevin Anderson said in a statement on Monday that the NSW government’s residential tenancy support package would be paid for a second month.
Landlords who have reduced rent for their tenant can apply for up to $3000 to cover the two months from July 14.
There is a moratorium on evictions until at least September 11.
AAP
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