Laying Down The Law: This COVID-19 Hotspot Is Using Sophisticated Tech And Big Fines To Ensure Residents Stay-At-Home

By Shivaune Field

Thinking of evading stay-at-home orders to drive across town to visit a friend? You had better think twice before getting in your car if you are a resident of Melbourne, Australia, as police are issuing fines of up to $4,957 for those that don’t follow strict isolation rules. 

The new restrictions were imposed just days before Victoria set a new daily record of 725 COVID-19 cases, taking the state total to more than 13,000. Victoria is home to the country’s second-largest city — Melbourne – as well as almost 70% of the nation’s coronavirus cases. Melburnians were sent into stage 4 lockdown restrictions on Sunday, that will last for at least the next 6-weeks. Under the new lockdown rules, residents cannot travel more than 3-miles from their homes. So, how do authorities monitor commuting in this city of 5-million people? For that monumental task, the Victoria Police Force is turning to sophisticated technology. 

Victorian Police Commissioner Shane Patton told The Age newspaper that his officers will be using drones to monitor public spaces, as well as automatic number plate (license plate) recognition technology on police vehicles. He cautioned that very little discretion would be applied by police officers who catch Victorians breaking the rules. “For those who are selfish enough to disregard these warnings… We will be fining people,” said Patton.

Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) devices have historically been used by Victorian and New South Wales police to find stolen and unregistered vehicles. Now the technology is being integrated with geo-location to identify drivers who are outside a 3-mile radius of their homes. An ANPR device can be mounted to the roof of a police vehicle and used to monitor traffic while the police car is driving, or when it is stationary. It scans the license plate of cars as they drive past, and compares the registered address of the vehicle to its current location. If a vehicle is more than 3-miles from the registered address, a fine of $1,652 is issued. If that vehicle has already received a fine for being too far from home, the second infraction comes at a cost of almost $5,000. 

Employees that work in businesses deemed essential, such as hospitals, are required to carry official ‘workers permits’ issued by their employers at all times. Fines for falsifying worker permits are set at more than $19,000 for individuals and just under $100,000 for businesses.

The new rules were issued this week as a result of steep increases in the number of cases of COVID-19, and they don’t stop there. If Melburnians own second homes in rural areas they are banned from traveling there. All retail stores have been closed, with the exception of pharmacies and supermarkets, and each day only one resident from each home is permitted to visit essential services. Masks are mandatory whenever someone leaves their residence. A curfew is in place from 8pm to 5am, and schools have been shut down state-wide. The Victorian police have announced they may knock on the doors of homes that have high-risk cases to ensure that residents are at home.  

International travel has been eliminated too. Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport has not accepted any international flights in the past month, and planes that were scheduled to arrive are now diverted to other cities. The Australian federal government has issued an order mandating a 14-day quarantine in a guarded hotel for any person arriving from a foreign country. Australian citizens are also restricted from leaving their homeland unless they have been granted an exemption from the Department of Home Affairs.

The measures may seem severe, but keep in mind that it is now winter in the Southern Hemisphere, and the results that come from these drastic restrictions may provide a roadmap for other nations when their seasons turn colder later this year. For Melburnians, there are months of chilly weather ahead, and a myriad of opportunities to learn pandemic lessons the expensive way.