The city's police officers have been given extraordinary powers to enforce the compliance of social distancing and self-isolation orders in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.
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"We've received a number of reports around the Riverina and other districts in the last few days since the weekend, of people suspected of not observing self-isolation protocols in returning from overseas," said Superintendent Bob Noble of the Riverina Police District.
Although unable to comment on the exact number of incidences in this nature, Sup Noble said he believed there to have been "more than 10" in recent days.
"We haven't put any person before the court or issued any process yet, but if we have to we will."
Under tougher regulations, individuals are now liable for on-the-spot fines of up to $1000.
Meanwhile, businesses found to be in breach of social distancing parametres will incur fines of up to $5000.
"If that doesn't resolve the issue and people continue to transgress [with] those behaviours, we will charge the person or issue a summons with penalties of up to $11,000 and up to six months in prison," Sup Noble said.
"We're very serious about it. Our focus is however on compliance, what we want to see is people doing the right thing and reducing the risk to themselves, their families and the broader public."
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State minister for police and emergency services, David Elliot also announced on Wednesday that officers would no longer be required to produce a warrant when arresting someone for a breach of the public health order.
"The rules are clear and they apply to everyone. No one is above the law. If you decide to ignore a direction, you will be caught and you may find yourself slapped with a hefty fine," Mr Elliot said.
"Our message to the community is simple: be vigilant, be sensible, and stay up to date with the latest health advice."
Police will be patrolling the community to ensure widespread compliance, especially among those who have been given a health mandate to stay isolated.
Should the requirement arise, Sup Noble expects additional officers may be deployed across the Riverina Police District to increase patrols and stamp out negligent behaviour.
Police have been supplied with appropriate infection-control equipment to keep themselves self safe when interacting with potentially infected suspects.
"The message must get through that if you don't abide by the ministers' directions, you're placing not only yourself but untold other millions of people across the state in peril of serious illness or death," Sup Noble said.
"This has the potential to kill a lot of people, so we'll take it very seriously."
The potential for heavy fines might come as a shock to members of the community in hardship due to widespread job losses at the moment.
But Sup Noble re-iterated, the economic downturn and personal circumstances would not be an excuse for failure to comply with health advice.
"If a person is transgressing with dangerous behaviour, I don't really care what's happened to them earlier in that day, it's about what they're going to cause to happen in subsequent days, months and years," he said.