Police issued 17 fines for COVID-19 health order breaches in Lake Macquarie Police District in the 24 hours to 7am on Thursday.
It was a drop from the 34 issued the previous day, which had put Lake Macquarie in the unenviable position of being the location with the most Coronavirus-related fines in the state from Tuesday into Wednesday.
Of the fines handed out from Wednesday into Thursday morning, 15 were for people failing to wear face masks when required to do so and two were issued to travelers in the region from Sydney.
Lake Macquarie Police District sits on the northern edge of the Central Coast-Sydney-Wollongong lockdown zone.
"[Fine numbers] will ebb and flow a bit, I think, and if they start going down hopefully that means that less people are doing the wrong thing," Deputy Commissioner Mick Willing said yesterday.
The Greater Sydney lockdown has been extended to July 30, with restrictions in regional NSW to also remain in force at least until then.
Residents in the lockdown zones are only allowed to leave for essential work purposes and from July 19 they will have to carry proof of a negative COVID-19 test from the previous seven days if they travel further than 50km from the lockdown border into regional NSW.
Statewide, police issued 203 fines for health order breaches in the 24 hours to 7am on Thursday - 93 were for people failing to wear face masks.
"If you live in Greater Sydney and are thinking of travelling in contravention of the public health order, you should be aware that if police don't pull you over proactively, the community will let us know you're there," Deputy Commissioner Willing said.
"Regional people are actively working with police to protect themselves and their loved ones, which is so important given the incredibly contagious nature of the Delta strain."
