21st May, 2020
A group of police officers in the German city of Mainz dined in a restaurant with too many people, breaching distancing rules introduced to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus, a police spokesperson said on Wednesday.
According to a police statement, the group had initially arrived at the restaurant on Monday night in “small numbers”, but over the course of the night, the group increased to more than 40 people, including off-duty police officers.
Social distancing requirements had not been adhered to and people did not wear mouth and nose masks.
According to federal regulations, patrons should stay 1.5 metres away from one another, and most service staff are to wear protective face masks covering their mouths and noses.
“This behaviour is by no means a trivial offence and will be resolved with consequences,” the police statement said, adding that the violations would be punished and disciplinary measures would be considered.
“It is not acceptable to police leadership in Mainz that a small group of officers is damaging the good reputation of Mainz police with this intolerable behaviour,” the statement said.
DPA