It really is time to get serious about wearing your masks, folks, because (aside from the obvious health reasons) officers from the Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) will fine you on the spot if you get caught without one.
The Bali provincial administration started enforcing the mandatory mask rule yesterday, as part of a new regulation issued to control coronavirus transmissions on the island.
Related — Unmask and get fined IDR100,000 fine in Bali starting today
Individuals failing to wear a mask outside of their homes are subject to an IDR100,000 (US$6.78) fine, whereas business and public facilities are subject to an IDR1,000,000 (US$67.80) fine or have their permits temporarily revoked if they don’t provide health precaution facilities.
I Gusti Agung Ketut Suryanegara, who heads Satpol PP in Badung regency, told Coconuts Bali today that authorities caught 62 people violating the mandatory mask rule on the first day, based on their monitoring in South Kuta.
Suryanegara said officers were stationed in front of Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK) Cultural Park yesterday morning. Out of the dozens of violators, seven of them were reportedly foreigners.
Not all of them were subjected to the administrative sanction, he added, and only 23 people were fined.
“The administrative sanction is applied on those who did not wear and bring masks, [whereas] we give warning to those who brought and wore masks but did not use them properly, such as having it on their chin or without fully covering their nose or mouth,” Suryanegara said, adding that Satpol PP also recorded their details to prevent repeat violations.
As of yesterday, Bali has recorded 6,385 COVID-19 cases, including 116 deaths.
