Authorities have fined 73 individuals caught without face masks in public spaces, thus far.

This was revealed by the spokesperson of the Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC), Dr. Nazla Rafeeq during Monday night’s press briefing, where she noted that a total of 645 individuals were issued warnings for violating the face mask mandate.

Out of the total, 272 individuals were issued warnings on Monday alone.

52 individuals were slapped with fines for violating the mandate on Monday, said Dr. Nazla.

Last week, the President’s Office made the decision to make wearing face masks in public spaces, mandatory, in order to help authorities’ control and contain the spread of the virus

The office went on to stress that avoiding a second lockdown is “in everyone’s interest”.

The first time the government indicated that face masks will be made mandatory was by Health Minister Abdulla Ameen, who in an appearance on RaajjeTV’s Fala Surukhee programme earlier, noted that deliberations were underway to enforce the use of face masks in public.

On Saturday, Maldives Police Service began enforcing the mandate strictly, and those caught violating the mandate will be fined by MVR 1,000.

The government has assured that stricter measures will be implemented in light of the rising cases of the global pandemic in the Maldives, which has stirred public concern.