More charges have been laid against Sydney residents accused of travelling to regional NSW in breach of COVID health restrictions.
Charges have been laid against two COVID-positive women, aged 20 and 21, for travelling from Sydney to the Hunter without a reasonable excuse.
The pair was charged with breaching NSW’s public health orders by travelling to the Newcastle area around two weeks ago.
Police allege the women were directed to return to Sydney but failed to leave the area. Both women have since tested positive to COVID-19.
The 20-year-old is due to face Mount Druitt Local Court on September 29, while the 21-year-old will appear at Hornsby Local Court on the same day.
Five new cases were on Friday reported in the Hunter New England area.
It follows charges being laid against a COVID-positive father and son from Rose Bay in Sydney’s east for breaching a public health order by travelling to Byron Bay, sparking a lockdown in the NSW Northern Rivers.
Zoran Radovanovic, 52, was charged over the incident earlier this week. The second male, aged 19, was on Friday also charged.
They’ll both appear in NSW courts in September.
“In both of the circumstances, the people involved knew exactly what they were doing – they knew they were breaching the health orders,” NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Mick Willing told reporters on Friday.
“What is frustrating for us is the small minority breaching those orders.”
NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller is expected to address a NSW crisis cabinet meeting on Friday with recommendations about additional police measures, including the deployment of additional military.
Some 404 infringement notices have been issued in the past 24 hours in NSW, with 41 people charged with breaching the public health order.
AAP
