Traffic and law enforcement officials in St. Kitts and Nevis received the “go ahead” to begin ticketing people who are in breach of the public health and safety protocols designed to mitigate against the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
“If your passenger buses carry more than 50 percent passenger capacity, the driver would be liable to be ticketed,” Superintendent of Police, Cromwell Henry said.
“If the passengers are not wearing masks on the bus, the passengers would be liable to be ticketed. If you are not practising social distancing or the sanitization measures then you will be liable also to be ticketed.”
The tickets range from $100 up to $500.
“We ask that persons avoid these fines,” Henry said. “We have delayed the use of these tickets for quite a long time. It means that we did not want to use them, so just comply with the regulations and the protocols, and we would not have to use these tickets.”
Persons are reminded that the legal requirements for properly wearing a face mask include wearing a face covering that completely covers the nose and mouth.
Fixed penalty notices for breaches of COVID-19 public safety regulations were first introduced in August 2020.
Health authorities are currently engaged in an extensive contact tracing, quarantine, and testing exercise designed to break the chain of transmission among a cluster of COVID-19 cases. The number of active cases stands at 19 with 45 recoveries and zero deaths.