Melbourne lockdown: Inside coronavirus hotspots

More than 300,000 Victorians woke to a new lockdown this morning with hundreds of police making sure they’re following the rules.

Police pull vehicles aside at a checkpoint in the locked-down suburb of Broadmeadows. Picture: William WEST/AFP

More than 300,000 Victorians woke to another month in lockdown this morning and a heavy police presence making sure coronavirus no longer spreads across Melbourne.

A massive spike in coronavirus cases - including today’s 77 new positive tests - forced the state government to lock down 10 postcodes across Melbourne’s hotspots.

A total of 36 suburbs will be heavily patrolled by police until at least July 29, a desperate move health authorities hope will stop the state’s second wave.

Speaking to reporters this afternoon, Victoria Police Commissioner Shane Patton said people “will not know where we will be and they will not know how long we‘ll be there for”.

“But they’ll be intercepted,” he said.

Police perform random checks on drivers in Broadmeadows. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

Mr Patton said Victoria Police was launching another operation to run alongside Operational Sentinel and Operation Shielding - both of which ensure Victorians are adhering to coronavirus restrictions and self-isolating if necessary.

“We will have today over 1000 police out and about solely focused on coronavirus enforcement patrols, visibility and proactive presence,” Mr Patton said.

“That is a significant, significant resource commitment and they will be continuing on - hundreds of those police will be in those specific suburbs and they're going to be making sure people are doing the right thing.

“So what does that actually comprise for us? We'll be having police on those targeted roads, some backstreets, some other roads, but also main arterials.

“We'll be having a high volume presence in those high-volume public places. We'll have booze buses out and about. We'll have them in static locations for a period of time. They'll be rolling on throughout the shifts, throughout the day.”

A booze bus set up in Broadmeadows. Picture: William West/AFP

Mr Patton reminded Victorians their “window of discretion was closing” and assured anyone out and about for no reason would be fined.

“The public need to be clear - travelling through here, if you're not from that area, or if you are in that area and you're out and about, the probability of you being intercepted, spoken to by police and the reasons why you are there will be ascertained,” he said.

“If you think that's not going to happen to you, then it is. And we will be fining people. There is no doubt about that.

“I want to be absolutely crystal-clear - for those who are selfish enough to disregard these warnings from the chief health officer, the deliberate, obvious and blatant breaches, if they're committing that, we will be infringing them.

“The window of police discretion is a very small window at the moment, I can assure you, and it's rapidly closing.

“While we may have been very lenient of recent times, with this emergency we're experiencing, with this threat to public health, the safety of the public, that leniency is dissipating day-by-day.

“I can assure you we will now be issuing the majority of people who infringe - who commit these breaches with infringements. Very, very rarely we'll be using discretion and warning them, only extreme cases of ambiguity will we be doing so.

“You'd have to have been on Mars not to understand that the chief health officer restrictions apply in these 36 suburbs and that you're expected to adhere to them.”

Police pull vehicles aside at a checkpoint in Melbourne. Picture: William West/AFP

Victorians face a whopping fine of $1652 if they’re not adhering to coronavirus restriction.

“It's up to us to make sure that those selfish few who aren't adhering to the guidelines know there are consequences and by doing that, we can help stop the spread,” Mr Patton said.

Police Minister Lisa Neville said there would be an “absolutely significant police presence” in the hotspot area and officers would be fining people.

“Police don't want to be out there fining people, that's not what they really want to be doing, but be in no doubt, this is absolutely what they have to do,” Ms Neville said.

“They have to be out there, they will be out there, and this will be a critical part of making sure we save lives and stop the spread of this disease. These have been really tough decisions for everyone to make.”

An ABC news crew filmed their experience in one of the locked down suburbs this morning, showing their car being pulled over in an RBT-style police operation before an officer asked for their licence.

“What’s your reason for travelling through?” the officer asked.

MUST WATCH: For everyone wondering what happens in a Lockdown police check #VicCorona @BreakfastNews @abcnews #Broadmeadows pic.twitter.com/WcGSh5ce0B

— Georgie Tunny (@georgie_tunny) July 1, 2020