Most citizens in Sonora stayed at home on the first day of the statewide mandatory lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19 on Monday, but authorities still had to issue fines and apply other sanctions to force some to return home.

State Security Minister David Anaya Cooley said that police imposed 130 fines, made two arrests and impounded six vehicles as a result of people’s failure to comply with the guidelines.

“The sanctions began today and the places where they gave out the most fines were Puerto Peñasco, Hermosillo, San Luis Río Colorado, Magdalena, Huatabampo, Nogales and Cajeme,” he said on Monday night.

The state government decided to impose the full-scale lockdown after weeks of appeals to the public to observe the physical distancing and stay-at-home measures went unheeded. As of Monday, all nonessential activity outside the home and more than one person traveling in a vehicle are prohibited in Sonora.

In Hermosillo alone police meted out 64 fines under the authority of a state law that allows sanctions against anyone who refuses to follow police orders.

State transit director Jesús Alonso Durón Montaño said that authorities have set up 34 checkpoints in the capital and at its highway access points to ensure that motorists are on the road for essential business only and that families don’t leave town for vacation.

“We have informed the public, made recommendations — no more. We’ve now begun to give tickets. … Anyone on the street who cannot prove that they are carrying out essential business will be fined or [arrested],” Durón said.

Source: Milenio (sp)