Melbourne’s lockdown rules have seen residents fined for grabbing a butter chicken and escaping the sound of rooting housemates.
Now, a trio of vloggers have been penalised for filming a late-night video in McDonald’s, in violation of the city’s Stage 4 curfew.
The ABC reports the group filmed themselves roaming through the CBD around 2.30am on Sunday, before entering a nearby McDonald’s and gloating about the whole situation.
Footage shared by the group on social media platform Weibo showed two of the individuals dancing in the fast food outlet.
The ABC reports the the vloggers, who were also described as Chinese international students, deleted the video after a significant backlash from members of the Chinese community in Melbourne.
Social media commenters quoted by the national broadcaster were heavily critical of the group, warning the vloggers potentially risked the health of others and could foster an undue reaction against the broader Chinese migrant community.
A July report revealed that Asian Australians have been physically threatened and harassed during the pandemic.
Earlier this year, NSW Health was forced to dismiss rampant conspiracy theories that the virus was more prevalent in certain postcodes.
Major mastheads The Herald Sun and Daily Telegraph were also urged to apologise for front pages which one petition organiser labelled “unacceptable race discrimination”.
The vloggers apologised for the clip in a subsequent statement, labelling themselves “shameful jokers” who acknowledged the potential ramifications of their video. They vowed to turn themselves in to authorities.
Victoria Police confirmed to the ABC that three individuals were slapped with $1,652 fines for breaching public health orders, which currently forbid folks from stepping outside between 8pm and 5am.
