Story By: Jonathan Macias, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash

These images show 16 men who have been forced to sweep the streets as their punishment for breaking the coronavirus lockdown in Mexico.

According to Marina Vitela, the Mayor of the city of Gomez Palacio in the state of Durango in north-western Mexico, the 16 citizens in the pictures were made to sweep the streets of the city as community service for breaking the lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vitela wrote on Twitter: “Sweep the streets of Gomez Palacio! I told you this is not a game. Community work for those who do not respect the health measures indicated during the pandemic.”

Reports said that 31 people were caught breaking the lockdown, with seven people receiving fines, eight were minors and taken to their families while 16 were arrested and later assigned with community service.

All the arrests took place on the 28th of April in the 14 de Noviembre Colony, according to the local Citizens Protection and Security Office.

Local media reported that the director of the office Javier Armado Esparza said the people arrested had been asked to go to their homes several times before the arrests.

The community work was coordinated by the Municipal Service Office who provided them lockdown beakers with the tools to carry out the work as well as face masks and gloves to protect themselves.

According to the latest data from the Johns Hopkins University, there have been 19,224 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Mexico and 1,859 deaths.

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