A Sydney pub has become the last bar to blunder, copping a $10,000 fine for breach of coronavirus restrictions.
When Liquor & Gaming NSW inspectors visited the Phoenix Hotel in Woollahra for a third time this week after previously visiting twice in June, they found COVID safety still below standard and issued a total of $10,000 in fines.
"When we visited venues in June, we provided education and advice. Now when we return, we want to see that they've turned things around," Director of Compliance Dimitri Argeres said on Saturday.
"If you've been visited by us already, you're not off the hook - we will show up again and we will have higher expectations the next time around," he said.
In Perth, Hotel Northbridge has missed a week's trade after a man, travelling from Queensland, allegedly skipped COVID-19 hotel quarantine and visited the pub.
Last Sunday WA authorities had confirmed the state had gone 135 days without any confirmed community transmission, a single case was then recorded by a man in hotel-quarantine on Monday.
Australia's "three different pandemics" continued to tighten the nation's purse strings too, with the country's deputy chief medical officer, Nick Coatsworth said it would be a challenge to find the right solution.
"We have got Victoria, which is really pleasingly, after a really difficult time, coming down off its second wave. We have got the next two most populous states, NSW and Queensland, doing the best to avoid a second wave. Then we have four states with no community transmission at all," Mr Coatsworth said.
While authorities in other states are desperate to avoid a second wave, it seems Victorians may at last be getting some reprieve.
The state on Saturday reported 94 new cases in the previous 24 hours, the lowest number since July 5 and a far cry from the 725 new cases on August 5.
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