Bahrain sentences two people for violating coronavirus confinement

Bahraini authorities are introducing electronic bracelets to ensure people comply with isolation measures to contain the virus

Doctors and nurses are seen doing their final check on the equipment in a makeshift ICU "Field Intensive Care Unit 1" set up by Bahrian authorities to treat the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) critical patients, at a car-park of Bahrain Defence Force Hospital in Riffa, Bahrain, April 14, 2020. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
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Bahrain's Lower Criminal Court handed three-month sentences on Tuesday to two people accused of violating coronavirus isolation orders.

The pair had travelled from a "coronavirus-hit country", state media reported, and were instructed to observe a 14-day quarantine at home after being tested on arrival.

The measures were in line with Bahrain's regulations on arrivals from infected countries to control the spread of the disease.

Both defendants were subsequently found to have broken the home isolation orders. One travelled to Bahrain International Airport while the other went to the Central Market, bought fish, and put it up for sale, posting the video on social media websites.

The court has ruled that the defendants stay under house arrest during the imprisonment period with electronic monitoring.

Bahraini authorities now require people under quarantine to wear electronic bracelets to ensure they comply with the measures to control the spread of coronavirus. The devices are linked to the wearer's phone through Bahrain's Covid-19 contact tracing app, BeAware.

People who break the quarantine face a minimum of three months in jail, a fine ranging from 1,000 Bahraini dinars (Dh9,767) to 10,000 dinars, or a combination of both, Mohammad Ali, head of electronic government said earlier this month.

Bahrain has confirmed 1,671 cases of Covid-19 and seven deaths, while 663 people have recovered from the virus.

Cases have mounted across the Gulf in recent weeks, with over 18,000 cases of the virus reported in the six countries of the Gulf Co-operation Council.