Mellieħa Walker: ‘I Was Treated Like A Criminal For Slightly Lowering Mask To Defog My Glasses’
Enforcement of COVID-19 rules has been beefed up over the weekend, but some of it seems to be quite over the top.
A woman told Lovin Malta that she recently went on a country walk with her husband in the limits of Mellieħa when she slightly lowered her mask below her nose to defog her glasses.
“We walk quite fast and since my husband and I both wear glasses, the tendency is for the specs to become foggy. When it gets foggy we lower the mask under our nose and then put it up again. The road was free from any other people walking.”
However, out of nowhere, a police car drove by them, and a police officer got out and fined them for not wearing their masks properly.
Describing the officer’s behaviour as “arrogant”, the woman said that he asked them for their personal details and warned them that he has the power to arrest them after they informed him they weren’t carrying any form of identification.
“We just couldn’t believe any of this was happening, it felt as if we were in a communist country,” she said.
“We weren’t given anything except that as he was walking towards his car he shouted out that we will be receiving the arraignment in the coming days.”
“This is absolutely unacceptable, being treated as a criminal for briefly wearing your mask under your nose without any other people nearby.”
Over the past week, authorities fined 762 people for breaching COVID-19 rules, an average of 109 fines a day.
This is significantly higher than the average of 38 daily fines issued between the start of January and 3rd March.
Yesterday, the Health Ministry confirmed it will be amending a legal notice to clarify that people are allowed to eat and smoke outdoors, but only if they’re not walking and that they’re allowed to drink at all times.
Cover photo: The Mellieħa road where the couple was fined
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