Qatar on Sunday announced the world’s toughest penalties of up to three years’ imprisonment and fines of as much as $55,000 for failing to wear masks in public, as it battles one of the world’s highest coronavirus infection rates.
More than 30,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the tiny Gulf country - 1.1 percent of the 2.75 million population - although just 15 people have died.
Qatar made the use of face masks mandatory for government and private sector employees and clients, shoppers at food and catering stores, and workers in the contracting sector.
The police are now stopping car drivers at checkpoints to warn them of the new rules before they came into force.
