Romania has issued more than 200,000 fines in under a month to people who failed to comply with restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus.
The fines handed out between 29 March and 20 April amount to 450 million lei (93 million euros), Forbes reported.
The Strategic Communication Group reports how many people it fined every day and the value of the fines. On Tuesday, for example, about 5,000 people were fined 11.4 million lei (2.36 million euros).
Romanians have to fill out an official form before they leave home explaining why they have gone out. If stopped by police or military, they have to present the form along with identity papers.
Anyone who violates the rules, faces a penalty of between 2,000 and 20,000 lei, a large sum in a country where the average monthly salary is about 3,000 lei.
Bucharest’s district mayor Robert Negoita was fined 10,000 lei after he was caught cycling in a public park. Parks are currently closed and Negoita claimed he’d been inspecting it.
Another official, the head of a local county council in western Romania was fined 5,000 lei after he was caught fishing with friends last week. He paid the fine and said he donate an equal sum to charity. Two friends with him were also reportedly fined.
Prime Minister Ludovic Orban sought to calm the situation on Tuesday, saying he’d asked police to give a warning before a fine. He denied reports that police had to collect a certain amount, saying authorities didn’t want to hand out “fines by the kilogram,>”
So far in Romania 512 people have died of Covid-19 and 9,710 people have tested positive.
The fines are seen as a way to deter people from going out unless necessary, and not overwhelm the underfunded health system.
