Sydney residents who deliberately break the rules of the city's current COVID-19 lockdown will be the focus of police as authorities work to crack down on spiraling case numbers.
NSW Police have warned the public they will be conducting a "compliance crackdown" on the use of QR check-ins and face masks in and around supermarkets and large retail premises in the Greater Sydney area.
Businesses not complying with the QR check-in system will receive a $5000 fine.
READ MORE: NSW records 210 new local COVID-19 cases, the majority in south-west and Western Sydney
Members of the public who fail to check in using the QR code will be fined a total of $1000. Not wearing a face mask carries a fine of $500.
The crackdown comes as authorities struggle to produce a downward trend on new COVID-19 cases, despite the city being in lockdown for over a month.
Yesterday, NSW recorded 210 new local cases of COVID-19 after more than 105,000 tests.
READ MORE: Five arrested after police 'attacked at illegal Sydney house party'
Of the 210, 58 cases were in isolation throughout their infectious period and 11 cases were in isolation for part of their infectious period.
Twenty-one cases were infectious in the community but the isolation status of 120 cases remains under investigation.
There are currently 203 COVID-19 cases admitted to hospital with 53 people in intensive care, 27 of whom require ventilation.
READ MORE: Fruit shop placed on Sydney exposure sites list for second time
Investigations are continuing into reports that four NSW Health staff attended anti-lockdown protests last week.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said he believed one was a paramedic and another a member of the nursing staff.
A man who tested positive to coronavirus the day after he was stopped by police in the Sydney CBD was turned away from last week's demonstration and did not take part, Mr Hazzard said.
"One gentleman was stopped at Central Station and turned around ... he, it appears, did actually comply with the police order," he said.
"Unfortunately he did test positive, but we believe he did not actually go to the demonstration."
