Police have been captured cracking down on residents breaching lockdown orders by sunbathing at one of Sydney’s most popular beaches.
Two male police officers are seen rounding up nearly a dozen people enjoying the sun on Bronte Beach in the city’s eastern suburbs.
The video has since sparked a debate among viewers, with frustrated western Sydney residents questioning why the beach-goers weren’t fined by the cops.
NSW Police were captured cracking down on residents sunbathing on Bronte Beach in Sydney’s eastern suburbs
Those residing in the city’s west and southwest are currently under the hardest lockdown in the state, with a suite of additional restrictions announced on Friday.
In the controversial footage, bikini-clad residents are seen reluctantly picking up their towels and moving on while one woman starts to walk towards the ocean.
‘They would have been fined in Western Sydney,’ one man wrote.
‘Every video I see of a beach in Sydney there are people just chilling. Not fair to the rest of us if they’re not told to move on,’ another said.
‘So people think lockdown doesn’t apply to them?’ a third asked.
‘Meanwhile in Blacktown the fines would have been raining in,’ a fourth said.
‘Done so nicely… but meanwhile in the west,’ another commented.
In the controversial footage, bikini-clad residents are seen reluctantly picking up their towels and moving on while one woman starts to walk towards the ocean for a swim
Those residing in the city’s west and southwest are currently under the harshest lockdown in the state (pictured, a mounted police patrol on Bondi beach last week)
It comes as residents in Sydney’s 12 LGA’s of concern are subjected to even harsher lockdown restrictions, including a 9pm-5am curfew to start on Monday at 12:01am.
Bayside, Blacktown, Burwood, Campbelltown, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Liverpool, Parramatta, Strathfield and Penrith are among the suburbs affected.
‘We don’t want to see more of you end up in hospital,’ Ms Berejiklian said during a press conference on Friday. ‘We don’t want to see more of you lose loved ones.’
Only authorised workers – including emergency and medical staff – will be allowed to leave their homes during the time period.
Restrictions have also been tightened in the local government areas with police granted more powers, childcare and disability workers ordered to get vaccinated by the end of the month and a one-hour exercise limit enforced.
The state recorded 642 new cases of Covid-19 on Friday and four more deaths (pictured, NSW Police patrol Bondi Beach on August 11)
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced a raft of additional restrictions for residents in the city’s 12 LGA’s of concern, including a 9pm-5am curfew to start to begin on Monday at 12:01am
‘I apologise deeply, to the vast majority of people in those communities who are doing the right thing, but for our own health and safety moving forward we need to make these difficult decisions,’ Ms Berejiklian said.
‘The reason we are extending lockdown for another month and the reason we are imposing these additional measures in those local government areas of concern is because the vaccine takes at least two to three weeks for the first dose to have effect.’
Click and collect will only be allowed for garden centres, plant nurseries and stores that supply office, hardware and building, landscaping, pet and rural materials.
Childcare and disability support workers will be required to receive their first dose of the vaccine by August 30.
NSW Police will be given the power to lock down entire apartment blocks due to Covid-19 cases.
They will also be allowed to order a resident to self-isolate for two weeks.
NSW Police now have the power to order a resident to isolate for two weeks and lock down entire apartment buildings due to Covid-19 cases (pictured, a police checkpoint in Guilford)
‘If someone enters an LGA of concern without excuse, not only will they be fined, they will be sent home and they will have to self isolate for 14 days,’ NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said.
The mask mandate has also been expanded to the rest of New South Wales with all residents told to wear face masks when outdoors unless exercising.
A permit system will also come into force for people travelling between Greater Sydney and regional NSW from Saturday.
Regional NSW – including Shellharbour and Central Coast – are expected to have restrictions lifted as planned on August 28.
However residents in Greater Sydney can expect to be locked-down until October as the state recorded a worrying 642 new cases of the virus on Friday.
The curfew comes as NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said officers were seeing too many people breaching lockdown orders late at night.
He used the example where four men from hotspot LGA’s were pulled over at 2am and told police were ‘exercising’.
The rule-breakers were subsequently fined a total of $17,000.