Over 200 individuals breached the lockdown order imposed across the Greater Malé Region, on Sunday.

In the daily publication of lockdown violations on Monday morning, the Maldives Police Service (MPS) revealed that action was taken on 240 lockdown violations on Sunday, which is a significant rise in comparison to the 111 violations recorded on Saturday.

As such, six individuals were arrested on Sunday, whereas four were taken into police custody the previous day.

In addition, 234 individuals were fined on Sunday, while fines were imposed on 107 individuals on Saturday.

With this development, the total number of individuals under police custody for violating the lockdown order, has risen to 282.

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.

Authorities have continuously been pushing the public to obey guidelines set by the Health Protection Agency (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.

Maldives capital Malé City was locked down on April 15 following the detection of the first ever Covid-19 community transmission.

Since then, 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 on May 14, however, authorities pushed it to another fortnight and the lockdown will remain in effect until May 28.