2-8 year jail terms for coronavirus quarantine rule-breakers in Albania
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Albania amended its penal code on Thursday to punish anyone breaking coronavirus quarantine and self-isolation rules and infecting others with up to eight years in jail as it slowly prepares to restart sections of its economy.
Prime Minister Edi Rama defended the new penalty as necessary for successfully relaxing the lockdown.
Rama said the government believed about 2,800 people would have died if lockdown rules had not been imposed. As of Thursday, 26 people have died and 518 have been infected with the new coronavirus among Albania’s 2.8 million people.
The number is low compared to other countries, leading some to break the rules. Police have fined more than 7,000 people and suspended 1,800 driving licenses.
According to the new law, anyone infected with the coronavirus who broke self-isolation or quarantine rules and infected others, wilfully or not, would face from two to eight years in jail if his or her action caused grave harm, including death.
Rama described quarantine rule-breakers as similar to carrying a bomb, in this case the new coronavirus.
“A bomb does nothing else but kill people,” Rama said.
Since Monday, Albania has enforced a weekday lockdown from 5:30 p.m. until 5 a.m. the next day and allows one person per family to shop for 90 minutes. Some industries keep working.
