Lake Macquarie police charge Gateshead man who allegedly broke COVID-19 public health orders three times in four days

It comes as a Gateshead man was on Thursday charged after he allegedly flouted the Coronavirus restrictions for regional NSW three times in four days.

Police attended the 59-year-old man's home on Wednesday and determined he had travelled from Lake Macquarie to various locations in Greater Sydney without a reasonable excuse.

He was told that he was classified as an "affected person" as a result of the breach and he had to follow stay-at-home orders.

But he was arrested after officers on Thursday found he was out in the community at Charlestown, where he allegedly abused staff at a business - who then reported him to police.

The man was charged - police allege it was his third breach of COVID-19 public health orders.

He was granted conditional bail and will face Belmont Local Court on August 11.

The Greater Sydney lockdown has been extended to July 30, with restrictions in regional NSW to also remain in force at least until then.

The Lake Macquarie Police District sits on the northern edge of the Central Coast-Sydney-Wollongong lockdown zone.

Lake Macquarie was the district with the state's highest number of fines for COVID-19 breaches from Tuesday into Wednesday, the Newcastle Herald reported earlier this week, with 34 fines handed out. Seventeen fines were handed out from Wednesday into Thursday.

Police issued 164 infringement notices and gave more than 200 warnings across the state in the 24 hours 7am on Friday.

Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys said police would be focusing on catching people trying to sneak out of the Greater Sydney lockdown zone at the weekend, with officers expected to patrol train stations, bus depots and airports as well as roads in regional parts of the state.

"If people want to travel out of the Greater Sydney area, they will be stopped by police," he said.

"If they're not stopped by police, the local communities will dob them in and we encourage that. They will be investigated, where appropriate issued [fines] and returned or directed back to Sydney."

In a message on social media on Friday, Newcastle City Police District commander Detective Superintendent Wayne Humphrey said it would take co-operation to keep the region free of COVID-19.

"It's evident most people in our community appreciate the seriousness of the situation - so to those people I say thank you for your compliance so far and please continue what you're doing to keep us safe," he said.

"To those who think they don't have to stick to the rules - police are out and about conducting patrols and will not hesitate to give you a ticket."

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