More than half of the Australians surveyed believe that police should have the power to fine anyone who spread the conspiracy theories about COVID-19, a recent poll found.
Nine.com.au ‘s latest 9Nation poll showed that 56 percent of those surveyed agree that Australian police should be able to penalise those who intentionally cause confusion through misinformation.
A further 16% thought that a monetary fine would be too lenient, while 14% thought that a financial penalty would be too severe.
The sentiment comes after multiple health authorities label the spreading of misinformation as “selfish” and dangerous to those vulnerable to the disease.
“You need to listen to the messages which are coming from the government,” urged Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Michael Kidd last week.
“People may not be happy with some aspects they are seeing, but their health is at risk, their parents, their grandparents, we all need to be working together to tackle any of these myths.”
When asked about schools, 35 per cent of readers believed that face masks should be compulsory for children attending COVID-19 positive schools.
A further 24 per cent think masks should only be compulsory for all schools and 23 per cent think masks should not be made compulsory for children at all.
“If you are in an enclosed space and you cannot guarantee social distancing, such as public transport, such as when you are buying groceries, you should be wearing a mask,” Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.