Chile’s President Sebastian Pinera has been slapped with a $3,500 fine after posing for a selfie on the beach with a bystander without wearing a mask.
Pinera apologised and turned himself in shortly after the photo surfaced on social media.
He was quoted as indicating that he had been walking alone along the beach near his home in the posh Chilean seaside town of Cachagua when a woman recognized him and asked for a photo together.
The selfie shows the president and the woman standing very near to one another on a sunny day, neither wearing masks.
Masks are required in all public places in Chile and violations are punishable with sanctions that include fines and even jail terms.
Chile has reported 581,135 cases of the virus since the outbreak began in March, and 16,051 deaths from the disease.
