The city's COVID-19 Task Force personnel will impose administrative sanctions against the violators from this weekend onwards, Pekanbaru City's COVID-19 Task Force spokesman, Ingot Ahmad Hutasuhut, noted in a statement that ANTARA quoted here Friday.
Hutasuhut remarked that the local police, military, and public order agency personnel will assist in enforcing this COVID-19 prevention and mitigation-related regulation of the Pekanbaru mayor.
Motorists found violating the face mask-wearing rule will be fined Rp250 thousand, while those venturing outdoors by cars without wearing face masks will have to shell out a fine of Rp1 million.
Offenders failing to pay the fine will have to do social work for a day, he revealed.
Wearing face masks to break the chain of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection is also compulsory in several other cities, including Jakarta.
In June, the Jakarta provincial government had confirmed that 20 million free masks were distributed to its residents, so those found flouting the rule to wear face masks while venturing outdoors would be fined Rp250 thousand.
In Surabaya, the city's mayor, Tri Rismaharini, ordered several teenagers to do 10 push-ups on July 25, 2020, for not wearing face masks while venturing on the city's sidewalk of Diponegoro Street.
"Last night, I got off my car to remind the teenagers to wear face masks while venturing outdoors," she noted in Surabaya, the capital of East Java Province, on July 26.
Rismaharini remarked that wearing face mask and practicing social and physical distancing measures while venturing outdoors are mandatory for teenagers and other Surabaya residents to break the chain of COVID-19 transmission.
To this end, the residents must constantly be warned to practice preventive measures as mandated in the government's health protocols, as thousands of people are still hospitalized owing to the deadly coronavirus, she pointed out.
Tri Rismaharini said she would send any teenager symptomatic with COVID-19 for a 14-day quarantine during which they were not permitted to receive any visitor.
In breaking the chain of COVID-19 transmission in the city, Tri Rismaharini had earlier led an intensified public awareness campaign on the importance of consistently wearing face masks and implementing other preventive measures.
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EDITED BY INE
Translator: Vera L, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2020
