Australia’s Victoria state to impose penalties for breaching COVID-19 isolation orders

SYDNEY, Aug 4 (Reuters) – Australia’s second-most populous state Victoria said on Tuesday anyone who has contracted COVID-19 and caught outside their home in breach of isolation orders will face fines of nearly A$5,000 ($3,559.00).

Victoria state earlier this week imposed a nightly curfew, tightened restrictions on people’s movement and ordered large parts of the local economy to close to slow the spread of coronavirus.

But state Premier Daniel Andrews said nearly a third of those who had contracted COVID-19 were not home when checked on by officials, requiring tough new penalties to stop community transmission. ($1 = 1.4049 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Himani Sarkar)