Cairo’s Metro Authority has announced that it is imposing EGP 50 fines for those who do not wear facemasks inside metro stations starting Sunday.

According to the authority, it launched a campaign on Tuesday to raise the awareness of commuters about the importance of wearing facemasks in metro stations and trains to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The authority also announced that it filed 1,472 complaints against individuals who did not wear facemasks inside stations, as well as 11 complaints against street vendors inside stations.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly ordered the imposing of fines of EGP 50 on individuals who do not wear masks in public areas instead of the previous sanctions of up to EGP 4,000.

Egypt has recorded a spike in coronavirus infections over the past three weeks. Numbers have been hovering between 100 and 200 since August, but since the beginning of November cases have witnessed a drastic rise, surpassing 1,000 daily cases for the first time since 8 July.

Egypt reported 1,359 new cases and 61 deaths on Monday.

According to official numbers, Egypt has recorded a total of 133,900 cases of coronavirus including 110,436 recoveries and 7,466 deaths as off 28 December.