Residents of Sydney and its home state of New South Wales will now face fines of up to $3,700 for violating coronavirus stay-at-home orders, which were extended Saturday following a record number of daily COVID-19 infections in the area.
New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said at a news conference that fines for stay-at-home order breaches had been increased from 1,000 Australian dollars, about $737, to $5,000 Australian dollars, or $3,700, according to Reuters.
While local authorities had been considering easing some restrictions by the time Sydney’s nine-week lockdown was scheduled to end Aug. 28, limits on activities are likely to continue, with Berejiklian saying Saturday that “September and October are going to be very difficult.”
