TIRANA, June 17 – As a result of the spike in coronavirus cases during the last few days, the government will begin to take harsher measures against violators of social distancing as well as other coronavirus restrictions in place.
Prime Minister Edi Rama announced on Tuesday that businesses which do not respect the safety protocol will no longer be tolerated and in addition to imposing fines, violators may also face prison time.Furthermore gatherings will be prohibited and citizens will be penalized if they do not respect social distancing.
Rama also warned for the second time that quarantine is possible if the number of cases continues to increase at this rate.
In line with Rama’s statement, the Albanian state police called on all citizens on Wednesday to comply with the new measures. They reiterated the legal obligation of self-isolation for anyone who has been infected and has been discharged from the hospital, but who can infect others, noting sanctions for violators.
Fifty new coronavirus cases were confirmed in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of infected patients to 1722 in Albania. Furthermore, an 82-year-old woman from Tirana passed away on Wednesday, bringing the death toll to 38 victims.
So far, tests have been conducted on more than 21,000 people. A total of 53 patients are being treated at the Infectious Diseases Hospital, nine of whom are in intensive care and three are intubated.
