Maldives Police Service (MPS) has revealed that action was taken on 114 individuals for breaching the lockdown imposed across the Greater Malé Region on Friday alone.

As such, the authority had arrested five individuals and fined 109 individuals on Friday, out of which some were residents of Hulhumalé and Villimalé as well; 101 in Malé, and four each from Hulhumalé and Villimalé.

Under the orders of the Director General of Public Health, violators of the lockdown will be slapped with MVR 1,000 fines the first time round and repeat offenders will be arrested under Article 533 (a) of the Penal Code.

The government has been issuing permits to go outdoors each day since the lockdown was imposed, allowing one individual from each household to go out for essential supplies or other essential needs. On Friday, 60 permits were issued, bringing the total to 4,322 since the lockdown was imposed.

Malé City was placed under lockdown on April 15 after the discovery of the first case of community transmission of the Covid-19 pandemic and it has since been extended until 30 April.

Stressing that the entire community is put at risk of contracting the virus due to a number of individuals who do not follow instructions set by the authorities for the safety of the community, Health Minister Abdulla Ameen has continuously been pushing the public to obey guidelines at the routinely press briefings held by the Covid-19 task force.