Edit
@twosips : this answers your post too.
The issue with crime and punishment is you need either very high levels of detection, combined with modest punishment. OR lower detection rates combined with massive punishment. You need one or the other.
If you have low detection rates - little chance of being caught - and light punishment if you are caught, then too many people will think "fuck it - they won't catch me and it's not the end of the world if they do".
People speed on roads because chances are there isn't a speed camera around the corner, and even if there is, it may not be active and even if it is, then it's only like £60 and not the end of the world. If we had a fixed £1,000 fine for speeding, most people would not speed: The chance of being caught might be slim, but the consequences if you are caught is severe. Or alternatively, we could have cameras everywhere. So it's only £60, but you ARE going to have pay it every day. That would work as well.
But if you combine bugger all chance of detection and bugger all punishment if you are caught (which is what we have with breaking COVID rules) it just means whole swathes of tossers choose to ignore the rules. We don't have the police bandwidth to be inside every shop, cafe etc. So we need severe punishment when we find people wilfully flouting the rules. They need to understand these rules are not optional.