A man walks beneath a coronavirus lockdown public service announcement in Cape Town, South Africa, on April 6. (Mike Hutchings/Reuters)

This article has been updated.

The guidelines are simple: Stay home. Avoid seeing anyone outside of your household. If you have to go out, wear a mask and stay six feet apart from others.

But over the past few months, as much of the world has adjusted to an unprecedented, stringent new set of norms, several prominent leaders centrally involved in their country’s coronavirus responses have been caught breaking the rules.