By Luke Voogt
Police fined a man driving on the Great Ocean Road $1652 for breaching COVID-19 restrictions yesterday.
The man, in his 20s, claimed he was travelling from Hawthorn to Shepparton when officers stopped him, police said.
The incident came as confirmed Geelong coronavirus cases remained level after rising for the first time in more than a week the previous day.
Confirmed greater Geelong coronavirus remained on 63 as of 11.59pm last night while Surf Coast cases have remained on 10 since April 10, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
State-wide COVID-19 cases rose by one to 1337, including 696 males and 641 females, as the 16th Victorian died from the disease.
A man in his 60s died in hospital on yesterday, while another 15 Victorians aged from their 50s to 80s have died after contracting the disease.
In Victoria 135 confirmed cases may have been acquired through community transmission with more than 93,000 tests conducted to date, according to the department.
Currently 27 people are in hospital, including 10 patients in intensive care, and 1251 people have recovered.
Of the 1337 cases, 1057 occurred in metropolitan Melbourne and 242 in regional Victoria, with several cases still under investigation.
“The increases we are seeing are small and this is encouraging,” Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton said.
“They prove that our physical-distancing measures are working but this is not a time to relax our strong approach.
“This disease can get away from you very quickly as we have seen in cities overseas.”
Yesterday police fined 85 people while conducting 943 spot checks at Victorian homes, businesses and non-essential services.
Officers fined “a number” of people while they were committing other criminal offences including motor vehicle theft and drug trafficking, police said.
Since March 21, police have conducted a total of 26,857 spot checks as part of Operation Sentinel.
Under the current State of Emergency Victorians are only permitted to leave home for food and supplies, medical care and care giving, exercise, and work or education.
Police can issue on-the-spot fines, including up to $1652 for individuals and up to $9913 for businesses.
