BROOKLYN, NY– A magistrate has fined 43 people including 33 Venezuelan nationals, TT$$10,000 (One TT dollar=US 0.16 cents) each after they pleaded guilty to breaching the Public Health regulations out in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
On Sunday, the 43 had been detained at a party in Valsayn, just on the outskirts of the capital.
They appeared before Magistrate Indra Ramoo-Haynes, charged with breaching the regulations and gathering more than five persons.
They were given five months to pay the fine or serve one month of simple imprisonment.
The police said that the 43 were part of 50 persons who appeared virtually before the magistrate on Monday. Apart from the 33 Venezuelans, there were also 10 Trinidad and Tobago men.
The authorities said that four local men and three Venezuelan women pleaded not guilty to the charge, and their matters have been postponed to Wednesday, September 8.
Trinidad and Tobago have recorded 1 180 deaths and 41 866 positive cases of the virus since the first case was detected in March last year.
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