By Keshab Raj Poudel, Kathmandu, Aug. 17: After the government made it mandatory to wear face masks a while stepping out, the police have punished 417,538 people until August 14 who were found not wearing face masks.

They were made to stand on the road for a while and were made aware of the importance of masks amid the COVID-19 pandemic. If people defy the rule despite being aware of the importance of masks then they were punished in line with the Infectious Disease (Control) Act, 2020.

Chakra Bahadur Budha, spokesperson of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA), said, "We introduced a procedure via all 77 District Administration Offices to punish those who are found roaming outside without wearing face masks."

Of the 419,538 individuals who were punished by the police across the nation, 354,824 were released after instructing them to put face masks at any time while being outside of the house.

MoHA Spokesperson Budha said that the police had distributed 39,507 pieces of masks to those who were found walking bare-faced.

"Rs. 100 each was slammed as fine to 25,207 persons who were not wearing masks. Revenue of Rs. 252,007 has been collected from it," added Budha.

Moreover, as many as 27,118 vehicles were prevented from entering the Kathmandu Valley without any essential work, he said.

"As COVID-19 cases, in hundreds, are being seen in the Kathmandu Valley daily, a committee has been deployed in Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur to monitor the malls and other crowded areas of the Valley," added the MoHA spokesperson.

He said that five monitoring teams were mobilised in Kathmandu and four each in Lalitpur and Bhaktapur. They will submit a report to the MoHA within a week, said Budha.