Social gathering continues to be a concern for Police

Social gathering continues to be a concern for Police as 82 notices from the 321 Public Health Infringement Notices that were issued between the 21st to the 26th of August were for social gatherings.

91 people were issued notices for failure to wear a face-covering or a mask in a public place with the Western Division recording 45 bookings, 32 in the Southern Division, 9 in the North and 5 in the Eastern Division.

Police also issued 28 bookings for failure to comply with orders in relation to the consumption of kava and liquor.

26 people received fines for failure to comply with 2-meter physical distancing.

76 cases were recorded for breach of curfew with 54 in the Western Division, 18 in the Southern Division, 3 in the East and 1 in the North.

Police say the shifts in the COVID-19 situation has seen the Ministry of Health manage outbreaks in multiple locations across Fiji and this should be a concern for all Fijians.

The Force is pleading with everyone to work together in stopping the spread of the virus by simply adhering to restrictions and COVID-19 safe measures in place.

Fixed penalties have been gazetted for breaching COVID-19 related regulations and a person who will be issued the infringement notice will have to pay the fixed penalty or elect to dispute in court within 90 days.

The penalty for failure to comply with the curfew order is $30, the penalty for failure to wear a face-covering in a public place is $20, the penalty for failure to wear a face-covering in a public service vehicle is $40, the penalty for failure of being 2 metres away from any other person in a queue is $20, the penalty for failure to comply with an order in relation to any gathering is $100, the penalty for failure to comply with an order in relation to entering or leaving a containment zone or lockdown zone is $75, the penalty for failure to comply with an order in relation to travel withing a containment zone is $75, and the penalty for failure to comply with an order in relation to consumption of kava and liquor is $50.

The penalty for failure to comply with an order in relation to isolation or quarantine is $200, the penalty for failure to comply with an order in relation to treatment of persons subject to isolation or quarantine is $200, the penalty for failure to limit customer capacity at customer-facing services is $200 and the penalty to limit passenger capacity in public service vehicles is $200.

If an individual to whom an infringement notice has been issued refuses to immediately comply with the order, he or she commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years, or both.