By Laura Michell
Police have fined four people in the Macedon Ranges for breaching the directive to stay at home without a valid reason.
Police conducting spot checks in Gisborne on Thursday issued more than $6000 in fines after four people were found outside their place of residence.
Each person was fined $1652 for being in breach of the chief health officer’s orders to stay home.
Victorians are only able to leave their homes for four reasons: for food, medical care, exercise or work and education.
“Macedon Ranges Police are working hard to ensure that our community is safe in these difficult and trying times,” police said.
“We want to reassure the Macedon Ranges residents and business people that we are there to protect you and your property. We will continue to patrol the townships to ensure that people are complying with the new restrictions.”
It comes as the number of COVID-19 cases in the Macedon Ranges remains stable at five.
However, latest Department of Health and Human Services data reveals the number of cases in Hume has risen to 32, up from 29 last Thursday.
There are now 1158 cases across Victoria, of which 88 may be the result of community transmission.
Ten people in Victoria have died from coronavirus.
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton said the testing criteria for COVID-19 has been broadened to include people whose employment and contact with the broader public may place them at higher risk of exposure to any virus which may be circulating in the community.
He said the changes are aimed at striking a balance between identifying cases that are not linked to known travel or other risks and maintaining current suppression efforts targeted at returned travellers and contacts of current cases
“The number of community-acquired cases contracted from an unknown source are continuing to rise – the expansion of the testing criteria will allow us to get a clearer picture of how much the virus is circulating,” Professor Sutton said.
“These new criteria do not mean our stage three restrictions should be relaxed. The reverse is true, we must continue these actions to flatten the curve.”
