Bolsonaro fined again in Sao Paulo for refusing to wear a face mask.

Sao Paulo, August 22 (RHC)-- The State Sanitary Surveillance fined the president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, for the sixth time since June after failing to comply with health regulations on the mandatory use of masks during a visit to Sao Paulo.

The sanction was imposed during a visit to the city of Ribera, as part of a tour that the president made to four cities in the region, where he received a different fine in three of them after repeated breaches of sanitary restrictions.

According to Paulista governor Joao Doria, the president will be fined 190 thousand reais (a little more than $35,000) and, if he does not settle the debt, he could have his name inscribed on the list of people with active debt of the territorial division.

"President Jair Bolsonaro took the third fine and goes to active debt, because he returned to São Paulo without mask, promoted the agglomeration without mask, and there the law is enforced," said Doria. 

Since this June, the president has received a total of six fines from the country's health authorities which, according to the Sao Paulo government, would amount to 4,500,000 Brazilian reais -- close to 720,000 -- as outlined in federal legislation.

Sao Paulo continues to be the epicenter of the pandemic in the country, concentrating 144,185 lives lost and 4,209,042 contagions by the coronavirus.

The use of masks is mandatory in the state of Sao Paulo and people who fail to comply with this rule could be charged with infringing the preventive health measure and face detention penalties of 15 days to six months, in addition to a financial fine.