Germany: 35,000 fines issued to COVID-19 rulebreakers
October 4, 2020
Germany's seven biggest cities have issued more than 35,000 citations for violating coronavirus restrictions since April, according to a survey conducted by the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
The fines have amounted to a total of €3 million ($3.5 million), the newspaper said.
Munich has taken in the highest value of fines, collecting €1.2 million after doling out over 9,100 citations. The Bavarian state capital has also been the hardest hit German city during the pandemic, reporting 11,800 cases and 225 deaths.
Hamburg, Germany's second most-affected city, with 8,176 coronavirus cases and 272 virus-related deaths, has handed out the most fines, with 11,000 and collected €998,000.
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Frankfurt am Main has issued 3,100 citations and collected at least €120,000 in fines, while Düsseldorf has written up 1,200 violators and collected €112,000.
In Berlin, where individual districts keep track of citations, at least 4,400 fines have been issued, worth a total of around €120,000. Welt am Sonntag said not all districts in the German capital had up-to-date numbers.
Not all citations led to paid fines, the newspaper said. But the amount of fines collected could also be higher because notices aren't legally binding in many cases.
dv/mm (AFP, Reuters)