Nine people arrested, over a thousand fined for Covid safety violations

A crackdown on violations of public health safety rules resulted in nine people being arrested and thousands of euros’ worth of fines being issued on Monday alone, the Hellenic Police (ELAS) said on Tuesday.

In a press release, ELAS said that its officers issued fines of 300 euros to 930 individuals for violating restrictions on public movement, which are governed by a special authorization system. Most of those violations were in Attica (149) and Thessaloniki in northern Greece (148), though Western Greece also performed poorly with 109 fines.

An additional 178 fines of 300 euros were issued on Monday for non-compliance with mask-wearing regulations, ELAS said, adding that residents of Central Greece, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, Attica and Central Macedonia were the worst offenders.

Nine people were also arrested for operating businesses that have been ordered closed as part of coronavirus safety measures or hosting illegal gatherings, carrying penalties of 5,000 and 3,000 euros respectively.

ELAS officers conducted a total of 65,399 inspections on Monday, nearly 8,000 of which were at Athens International Airport.