Melbourne
© NinePeople in Melbourne will be required to wear a face mask in public from today.
Victoria Police are now issuing $200 on-the-spot fines to anyone not wearing face masks in metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire, after new rules for anyone leaving their home became mandatory at midnight.Officers will enforce the new rule as part of their daily patrols but will exercise discretion over the next seven days, they said.

"We understand that for many people this is a significant adjustment," Commissioner Shane Patton said.

The vast majority of Victorians are trying to do the right thing and our exercise of discretion will reflect that.

"That said, we do expect people to follow the Chief Health Officer's directions and will not hesitate to issue fines to people who are obviously and blatantly showing a disregard for community safety by failing to wear a mask."Victoria recorded 484 new infections yesterday, the highest number for the state since the pandemic began.

Two men aged in their 90s died from the virus, with reports the state could face restrictions up until Christmas.


Comment: Two men in their 90's apparently die from coronavirus and yet the entire state needs to wear face masks, possibly up until Christmas??


People in Melbourne will be required to wear a face mask in public from today. (Nine)Victoria Police said a person with a mask who refuses to wear it when requested should expect to be fined."

Similarly, if a person persists with entering a supermarket when requested not to do so due to the absence of a mask then that person can expect to be issued with a fine."

The only exceptions to the mask requirements are for medical or professional reasons, if you're under the age of 12, and if it's not practical, for example running. You will still need to carry a face covering at all times to wear before and after exercise. The government has also recommended that residents from elsewhere wear a face mask if they are not able to stay 1.5m away from others.

Melburnians need to 'try harder' to control rising numbers

Melbourne's Lord Mayor says the city needs to "try harder" to control the rising number of coronavirus infections in her community.

"The numbers keep rising and we all have a responsibility personally and as leaders in the community to ensure we adhere to restrictions," Sally Capp told Today.

Ms Capp said she believes the city is now listening after Victoria recorded its worst day with 484 new infections and two more deaths.

"Normally we would have 40,000 people streaming out of Flinders Street Station. At the moment, it's about 4000," she said."All we can do is try harder - The actions of every single person impacts the entire community and our economy."That's the despair and devastation we are dealing with every day.

"Businesses 'won't last' through to Christmas lockdown

Fears of Australian businesses collapsing are intensifying amid speculation of a lockdown in Melbourne lasting until Christmas.

"How long these businesses can sustain themselves is one of the biggest challenges everyone is dealing with," Melbourne's Lord Mayor Sally Capp told Today."

Our stats show that currently out of the 16,000 businesses we have registered in the city, 13,000 of them are accessing JobKeeper."

She said about 45 per cent of hospitality businesses have closed, with seven per cent likely to not reopen.

"The longer this goes on, the more dire that situation is," she said."We just keep coming back to the same message - if we can get everybody in the community to adhere to the restrictions set out by health experts, by our premier, by the prime minister, the sooner we can have our businesses open their doors again."