Action was taken on 160 individuals who breached the lockdown order, on Wednesday.

The Maldives Police Service (MPS) revealed via its daily publication of lockdown violations on Thursday morning that the number of lockdown violations recorded on Wednesday is less in comparison to the lockdown violations reported the previous day.

As such, out of the 160 lockdown violations recorded on Wednesday, 155 were fined and five were taken into police custody.

Police officers patrolling the streets of the Greater Malé Region imposed fines on 145 from Malé, eight from Hulhumalé and two from Villimalé.

With this, the total number of fines imposed until now reaches 5,812 out of which 5,068 are from Malé, 638 from Hulhumalé and 106 from Villimalé.

Out of the five arrests made on Wednesday, four were from the capital and one was from Hulhumalé, no arrests were made in Villimalé.

The total of individuals taken into police custody for breaching the lockdown order is currently at 318, out of which 281 are from Malé, 34 from Hulhumalé and three from Villimalé.

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 Maldives capital Malé City was locked down on April 15 following the detection of the first ever Covid-19 community transmission, police had been issuing daily permits for individuals to go out for essential supplies. However, individuals are now limited from going out for essentials, to once a week.

The lockdown was initially set to end on May 14, however, authorities pushed it to another fortnight and the lockdown ends on Thursday.

Authorities have begun the process of easing the lockdown, in phases.