Woman furious after new neighbours dob on her for 'breaking coronavirus rules'
People have lambasted their neighbours for dobbing them in for innocent acts that could be confused as breaking social distancing guidelines amid the coronavirus crisis.
A woman took aim at her neighbour on a Byron Bay community Facebook group, saying she was sick of people’s bad behaviour.
Coronavirus live blog: Latest news and updates about the crisis in Australia
“I am entitled to move house without the new neighbours calling the police,” she wrote in a heated post.
“What has happened to the locals of Byron ... so sad and disappointing.
“I’m pretty sure that if given the chance the locals would install a public hanging area.”
Other Byron Bay locals said they weren’t surprised to hear of the woman’s experience.
“It is so so sad. But to be honest predictable,” a man said.
“All the love and light which this area spruiks has gone to let’s burn the witch. No one knows anyone’s story. If someone has an accent they may have lived here for 20 years or [they’re] homeless with no way to get back to their country.
“Please, please, please be kind now and instead of wanting to call the police on someone ask how you can help.”
Others claimed the behaviour of neighbours dobbing each other in was “disgusting” and moving house was legal under NSW’s 16 reasonable excuses people can leave home.
People who do not stick to the state rules can face fines of up to $11,000 and a maximum of six months in jail.
NSW Police can also hand out $1000 on-the-spot fines to those not abiding by the restrictions and not self-isolating at home if they have been told to do so and businesses can be fined $55,000.
The number of confirmed cases on Tuesday in NSW rose to 2870, with 32 patients in intensive care. The NSW death toll remains at 26 after no new deaths were reported overnight but two deaths were on Monday recorded for people aged in their 70s.
Both were passengers on the ill-fated Ruby Princess cruise ship.
Ms Berejiklian said testing would this week be ramped up in areas including eastern Sydney, western Sydney and Lake Macquarie after reduced testing over the Easter weekend.
"The rate of testing in NSW is really allowing us to control the spread – that will obviously continue this week," Ms Berejiklian told reporters on Tuesday.
"It's really up to us to continue to follow the restrictions, continue to do what we're asked to make sure the spread is controlled."
Over the Easter weekend NSW police issued 200 fines at $1000 each.
Police called over boy’s isolation birthday party
A Sydney mum is furious claiming someone called the police on her for holding a 13th birthday party for her son while the family are in self-isolation.
The mum of five, a resident of the Macarthur region in Sydney’s southwest, told Yahoo News Australia she planned on holding a big family barbecue for her son’s birthday on Thursday but had to cancel it.
“So, we decided to ask family and friends who were going to be driving past our house to let me know and I would take my son outside for them to honk their horn and scream out happy birthday, we had some close family members stop and leave presents near the car for him,” she said.
The mum, who chose to remain anonymous, said she saw a Facebook post stating if a child is celebrating a birthday party while in quarantine you can put balloons on the letterbox. It lets strangers know and they can honk their horns if they wish.
But the party was disrupted when police showed up. Someone had called them under the impression the family had broken the social distancing laws and that children had been getting dropped off at the home for a party “all day”.
Bizarre reasons people have been fined
Since the stage three restrictions were introduced, hundreds of people have been caught flouting the law and slapped with massive fines.
Three mates playing video games in Victoria were whacked with a huge fine for breaching the two-person social gathering rules last week, with each issued a penalty of $1652.
Hunter Reynolds, 17, was learning to drive in wet conditions with her mother supervising in the car when a police officer pulled them over. They had travelled 30 kilometres from their home in Hampton, Victoria, to Frankston.
A man was also busted for eating a kebab on a bench in Newcastle in NSW.
People urged to dob in coronavirus rule-breakers
Earlier this month, NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller called on the community to dob in backpackers openly flouting coronavirus restrictions.
Authorities said international travellers were continuing to party in Sydney's youth hostels and were threatening to spread COVID-19 among themselves and the public.
Neighbours are now being encouraged to dob in people, with hundreds of others complaining online about joggers, cyclists, young families with kids, coffee drinkers, teens and dog walkers not following the rules.
The Age reports Victoria’s crime reporting hotline has been inundated with more than 600 calls a day from people dobbing in those ignoring social distancing rules.
- with AAP
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