Police in the NSW Snowy Mountains are urging people to report suspected public health order breaches to ensure the community remains safe amid the state's growing COVID-19 outbreak.
Another penalty infringement notice was issued after a 48-year-old South Australian man was found breaching public health orders in Jindabyne overnight, potentially putting the Snowy Mountains community at risk of exposure to COVID-19.
The man allegedly told police that he had travelled via public transport from Tweed Heads on the New South Wales North Coast to Merimbula on the far South Coast, before travelling to Jindabyne this week.
However, police allege the man flew from the Gold Coast to Sydney on Friday July 30, before travelling to the Snowy Mountains.
"[He spent] time in Greater Sydney before travelling out of the area without a reasonable excuse," a spokesperson said.
Police Superintendent John Klepczarek from Monaro said officers were called to a hotel in Jindabyne in the early hours of the morning after locals raised the alarm.
He said police were contacted by the members of the public "after identifying a suspicious male in the Jindabyne shopping area".
That incident comes after a family of four from the Blacktown area were fined for visiting Thredbo last month, alongside a number of other COVID-19 breaches.
Police help to protect ski fields
Superintendent Klepczarek said police would remain vigilant, stopping people travelling from all lockdown areas into the south-east.
Yesterday, lockdown orders were extended to the Hunter and Newcastle areas for a seven-day period after a COVID-19 outbreak in the region.
"Unfortunately, we've seen overnight the red zone increase further up the north coast of NSW," Superintendent Klepczarek said.
"This obviously places more people in lockdown.
"We've been very fortunate to get into the snow season this far and even the ACT has been very fortunate, and we're determined to keep it that way.
The Southern NSW Local Health District has confirmed all sewage tests across the Snowy Mountains and NSW far South Coast have come back with negative results during the past month.
No 'ring of steel' needed
NSW Premier Gladys Berijiklian said police were doing what they could to prevent the spread of the virus to regional areas but dismissed the idea that a "ring of steel" was needed around Greater Sydney.
