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ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI– Tourists and locals who breach the COVID-19 guidelines as the territory reopens for the December 2020 tourism season, could find themselves paying stiff penalties for breaking those regulations. This comes as part of the COVID-19 Control and Suppression (entry of persons) Regulations, 2020, which was debated in the House of Assembly and gazetted this week Monday, November 30, 2020.Up to $1000 for breaching regulations According to the gazetted regulations, “A person who tampers with or damages a geofencing device, shall be issued a fixed penalty notice by the relevant authorised officer and be required to pay a fine of one hundred and twenty-five dollars ($150).”A geofence is a virtual perimeter for a real-world geographic area and represents the geographical boundaries that those under quarantine must stay within.Further, section 13 or the regulations goes on to say, “An unauthorised person who visits any person who is quarantined under these Regulations shall be issued a fixed penalty notice by the relevant authorised officer and be required to pay a fine of five hundred dollars ($500).”Fines must be played in 21 days or earlier The regulation noted that persons who contravene the protocols or guidelines of the Regulations or otherwise contravenes the provisions shall be issued a fixed penalty notice by the relevant authorised officer and be required to pay a fine of one thousand dollars ($1,000).The fixed penalty imposed under this section is to be paid to the Magistrate’s Court within twenty-one days or earlier, taking into consideration other variables including when the person who committed the offence is scheduled to leave the Territory.The Virgin Islands reopened its borders to international visitors on December 1, 2020.