Maldives Police Service (MPS) took action on 114 lockdown violators on Monday.

This was revealed by the authority’s daily publication of lockdown violations, on Tuesday morning.

With this development, the total number of individuals under police custody for violating the lockdown orders, to 231.

The number of lockdown violations recorded on Monday was slightly higher in comparison to the violations on Sunday.

Whereas 108 individuals were fined on Sunday, 111 individuals were fined on Monday.

Three individuals were taken into police custody on Monday while nine were arrested the previous day.

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

Since the lockdown was imposed on April 15 after a community transmission of the Covid-19 virus was confirmed, police had been issuing daily permits for individuals to go out for essential supplies. Individuals have been limited from going out for essentials, to once a week, since then.

The lockdown was initially set to end last Thursday, however, authorities pushed it to another fortnight last Wednesday and the lockdown will remain in effect until May 28.

Authorities have continuously been pushing the public to obey guidelines set by the HPA for the safety and security of the community, 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.