On Wednesday, throughout the country, the police took action due to mask-wearing violations in 42 instances, the Spokesperson of the National Police Constabulary said at the online press conference of the Operational Group responsible for the fight against the coronavirus epidemic held on Thursday.

According to Kristóf Gál’s information, in 12 instances out of the 42 police officers were required to take action because passengers travelling on public transport were not wearing or were not correctly wearing face masks, while in the remaining 30 cases due to the fact that members of the public violated the rules relating to protective measures on the premises of shops or other enclosed spaces listed in the government decree. He added that in every instance the police cautioned the violators.

Between the entry into force of the government decree on 21 September and Wednesday midnight, nationwide the police took action in 946 instances due to violations committed in connection with these protective measures, Mr Gál highlighted.

He said on Wednesday due to the violation of the rules relating to dance and music events and the restricted opening hours of catering establishments, the police took action in eight instances resulting in prosecutions, while due to breaches by transit passengers travelling through Hungary, they issued one caution and imposed 52 onsite fines.

The spokesperson also said on Wednesday 3,056 compulsory home quarantine orders were issued, including 465 upon the crossing of the border. As a result, at present, 20,217 persons are in compulsory home quarantine; 1,027 of them are using the mobile application developed for online monitoring. On Wednesday, the police checked compliance with the rules relating to compulsory home quarantine in 10,635 cases. During these checks, the police prosecuted 27 persons.

In answer to a question about the most severe sanctions that police officers have been compelled to resort to so far in the case of violations, Mr Gál said in the event of the violation of the rules relating to the protective measures, police officers are free to deliberate, taking into consideration all relevant circumstances. The three sanctions may be caution, onsite fine and prosecution.

He recalled that up to Wednesday midnight the police took action due to the violation of the disease control regulations in 946 instances in total, including 810 cautions, 60 onsite fines and 76 prosecutions. These numbers indicate that in the vast majority of cases, police officers resorted to the mildest sanction, the issuance of cautions, the spokesperson said.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)