Some 50 sellers and customers took turns to stay in the ambulance for several minutes on Monday as a social punishment.

"We punished 50 sellers and customers at Maron Market by making them stay in a hearse," the task force's security and law enforcement coordinator, Ugas Irwanto, told kompas.com on Monday.

Prior to entering the hearse, the task force gave the violators face masks.

Inside the hearse, Ugas added, violators were asked to reflect on their actions. The task force also reminded them how the COVID-19 pandemic had taken a lot of lives.

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The task force also imposed several other forms of punishment.

"We ordered vendors to close down their shop for a week, confiscated violators' IDs for three months, and asked some of them to clean the market and open sewers," Ugas said.

He said the task force would visit 34 other markets in Probolinggo in the next week to ensure residents remained disciplined in following the health protocols.

"Probolinggo regent, deputy regent and local stakeholders also participated in this program," said Ugas.

As per Monday, Probolinggo had recorded 559 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 139 active cases, 393 recoveries, and 27 fatalities. (nal)