Police booked 144 individuals for violating coronavirus protocols in the 24 hours leading up to 6am on Thursday.

Most of the culprits were not wearing masks, had not sent an SMS for movement or disregarded the overnight curfew, police said.

Five business owners were fined for various offences.

A total of 11,363 checks were carried out, 924 by traffic police, six by the rapid response unit and 78 by marine police.

Another 2,247 inspections were conducted in Nicosia, 3,153 in Limassol, 1,667 in Larnaca, 1,190 in Paphos, 1,395 in Famagusta and 703 in the Morphou district.