Poland introduces tougher penalties for breaking quarantine rules

People under the mandatory 14-day quarantine period who break the isolation rules will face a fine of PLN 30,000 (EUR 6,624) the prime minister announced on Friday evening. The penalty has been raised six-fold in a bid to contain the coronavirus epidemic.

The government is also introducing location-tracking of people under quarantine, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said.

The prime minister stressed the importance of observing quarantine rules for preventing the spread of the virus, quoting the examples of China and Taiwan, where citizens closely followed the restrictions and are now returning to work.

Breaking the quarantine may cost other people their lives, Morawiecki said. "Therefore we must treat this subject very seriously," he added.