Over 3,000 fined for breaching Covid-19 safety rules

Over 3,000 individuals have been fined for breaching Covid-19 safety measures.

Superintendent of Police, Hussain Sameer, revealed this during the Health Emergency Operations Centre (HEOC)’s Covid-19 press briefing on Monday night.

As such, the police official said that a total of 3,042 people have been fined thus far, for violating the rules.

Covid-19 preventive measures were strengthened in the capital last month, following a surge in cases in July.

This includes a face mask mandate which came into effect on August 1, while a curfew from 10pm to 5am was announced a few days later. The latest measure, imposed on August 23, is a ban on vehicle movement from 8pm to 5am.

Sameer said that 274 people have been fined for violating the vehicle movement restriction since it was imposed about eight days ago, while 1,095 were let go with a warning.

1,188 people were fined for not wearing face masks, during the same period, and 2,901 have been let go with a warning.

In addition, 3,813 individuals were let go with a warning after violating the curfew order while a total of 1,580 have been fined.

Noting that they do not want to impose fines on anyone, the police official appealed to all to follow all Covid-19 preventive guidelines.

He said that while shops are required to close by 9:30pm, some are forced to keep open after this as a number of customers queue up about five minutes before closing time.

Sameer called on all to refrain from doing so.