An important message from Lake Macquarie police chief


1st April 2020
Here's an important message from Lake Macquarie police chief Superintendent Danny Sullivan regarding the new rules around travel and gatherings

Here's an important message from Lake Macquarie police chief Superintendent Danny Sullivan regarding the new rules around travel and gatherings.

Hi Everyone,

These are challenging times and Police are urging the community to observe the social distancing requirements

I want to say to those who think they can continue to go about their daily lives as normal – these are not normal times. We are faced with a different reality to the one we are used to. Please adapt your routines according to this current and very real threat.

NSW Police will be enforcing the new rules under the Public Health Act, but we want to remind the community that we want to work with them. This is about all working together to understand and adhere to the new rules.

All of these measures are in place to help slow the spread of COVID-19, we all have to do our part.

Part of these new directives by the NSW Premier and NSW Health Minister outlines that a person MUST NOT leave their home without a reasonable excuse. These exclusions include:

o going to and from your place of work – if you cannot work from home, going to and from places of education – if you cannot do remote learning from home,
o if you have to go to the supermarket or pharmacy or to purchase any other items for your household which are ESSENTIAL, or
o if you are leaving your home for some brief exercise in your own neighbourhood.

A further explanation of the rules are available on the Health NSW website.

In terms of the ‘two-person rule’, this applies to both inside and outside of the home. This DOES NOT include immediate family members whom you live with, or if you live in a share-house with roommates.

You can still go for a surf, whilst social distancing in the water. You can go for a walk with the family and the dog, so long as you live with those persons and adhere to all other social distancing rules whilst in public.

However, YOU CANNOT congregate in groups of more than two in public – sitting down on the sand with friends can’t happen anymore, working out in the public park as a group is a no-go.

We know this can seem harsh, but the rules we have in place now will help us slow the spread of COVID-19, we have to adapt and do this for the wider Lake Macquarie Community.

Police will be enforcing these rules across the Lake Macquarie Police District, we want to work with people so they can understand what the rules mean and how they apply to them. However, if we see people blatantly ignoring directions then we will impose the penalties.

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