Coronavirus Victoria: Man cops 10 fines for repeated COVID-19 breaches

A man has been slapped with 10 fines for breaching COVID-19 restrictions in Victoria and another claimed he was immune from the virus.

A man has copped 10 fines for breaching COVID-19 restrictions in Victoria, police have revealed.

A Whittlesea man, who said he was in Richmond to visit work colleagues, could not produce appropriate documentation.

Victoria Police said the man has been fined nine times previously for breaching the chief health officer’s directives.

Two men were also caught buying cigarettes in South Melbourne after curfew. Both men were also not wearing face coverings, with one claiming he did not need to as he has a birth condition that makes him resistant to coronavirus.

Police issued a total of 253 fines to individuals for breaching the chief health officer directions during the coronavirus lockdown, including:

• 41 for failing to wear a mask covering outside the home

• 20 at vehicle checkpoints

• 75 for curfew breaches

• 18,405 vehicles checked at the vehicle checkpoints

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Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has put Melbourne under stage 4 lockdown. Picture: Sarah Matray/NCA NewsWire

Among the other breaches:

• A man in the Brimbank area who was breaching curfew restrictions. When he was asked why he was out, he claimed he was researching where to buy cheaper groceries in the area.

• Eight people who did not reside together located by police at a one-bedroom apartment on Flinders Street.

It comes as Victoria has confirmed 372 new infections and 14 deaths linked to the disease – an increase from the 287 new cases and eight deaths registered yesterday.

It comes as emails have emerged showing it wasn’t a misbehaving security guard who sparked Victoria’s second wave of infections, but a night duty manager at the Rydges Hotel on Swanston St.

According to The Age, the night duty manager became “patient zero” after coming down with a fever on May 25 and testing positive the next day.

Other staff and security guards were sent home immediately to isolate but it was too late, with five guards testing positive and spreading the virus to their families.

It’s unclear how the manager became infected – it’s presumed he caught it from a returned traveller – but there is no suggestion of any improper behaviour.