Man gets arrested in Argentina for breaking quarantine to play Pokémon GO

Disregarding all the mandatory safety regulations to minimize the spread of the Coronavirus in Argentina, a man decided to break the mandatory quarantine and got arrested after being unable to prove that he had the required permits to be out in the public.

Argentinian news outlet Clarín reported that WenJie Xue, a 28-year-old man, was apprehended early this Tuesday morning in the city of Buenos Aires - upon inspection, the Police Department informed that the Chinese native was playing Pokémon GO on his phone, with this transpiring as the reason he was outside. 

The Police Department of Buenos Aires confirmed Pokémon GO as the reason WenJie Xue broke the quarantine (Photo: Clarín)

This isn't the first case of people not following strict regulations just for the sake of trying to capture that one elusive Pokémon. In Spain, a 77-year-old pensioner was fined by the Madrid Police Department, citing the Niantic game as the reason he broke quarantine.

Niantic has made several changes to Pokémon GO this past few weeks to help players adhere to social distancing practices will still be able to play their favourite game.

In a blog post on March 12th, they announced several key changes that include.

• The Abra Community Day postponed.
• A one-time purchase bundle of 30 Incense for 1 PokéCoin with incense lasing for one hour instead of the regular 30 minutes.
• 1/2 Hatch Distance for Eggs placed in incubators.
• PokéStops dropping Gifts more frequently
• Pokémon habitats will increase and more Pokémon will be appearing in the wild.

While the Cobalion and Landorus raid events are going as planned, further changes were announced on March 20th, with the removal of walking and PokéCoin requirements to earn sets of battles in the GO Battle League and the lowering of the Friendship requirements, meaning you can now send battle invites to Good and Great Friends, instead of Ultra and Best Friends, until May 1st.

Niantic didn't stop there, on the March 23rd they announced further changes which include: 

• Three times the regular Stardust gain for your first catch of the day.
• Being able to carry open more gifts per day with each one carrying extra items.
• 100 PokéBalls for 1 PokéCoin. This will last until March 30th, when a new offer is available.

To wrap it all up, the Lugia Raid and the Raid Hour special event, were both cancelled.