Australians seen climbing fences to defy the government's coronavirus beach ban

After photos from densely-packed Sydney beaches went viral online over the weekend, stricter measures were put into place to try to keep people away amidst a pandemic currently sweeping across the country.

In response, local councils temporarily closed beaches all across the coastline, including hugely popular beaches like Bondi, Bronte, Tamarama, Clovelly and Coogee.

This meant huge fences were put up around the entrances to the beaches.

Image: Getty

Despite current Australian government advice for people to avoid public areas and to self-isolate at home, some local residents weren’t too happy about their morning swim being cancelled.

A photographer captured the moment members of the public scaled fences to access the closed-off beach.

The photographer revealed one particularly disgruntled man wearing a black Speedo kept saying “This is my beach” after being confronted:

So I was at the beach taking pictures of the fence that's been newly-erected, and I saw some people going under and over it. This gentleman was running out of the beach and saw me and started hurling some pretty choice words.

I think he just realised he was being photographed doing the wrong thing, I suppose. He sprinted towards me.

The response on social media to the rule-breakers was swift:

At the time of writing, 2,431 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in Australia and sadly nine people have died from it.

As of Friday 20 March, Australia closed its borders to all non-residents or citizens.

H/T: The Sydney Morning Herald