Legislating Against the Spread of Coronavirus

The Government has announced further plans to limit the spread of COVID-19 across the United Kingdom.

Details of the proposed measures are expected to be included in an upcoming COVID-19 Emergency Bill, as plans continue to accelerate ahead of an expected move from 'contain' to 'delay'.

The new legislation will strengthen the provisions of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 and the Health Protection (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020, which came into force on 10th February 2020.

The 1984 Act and associated Regulations already contain a range of criminally-enforceable measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 across England and Wales.

The Rt. Hon. Matt Hancock MP, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has outlined how volunteers - who already play a central role in helping the health and social care system function - will be given additional employment safeguards so they can leave their main jobs and temporarily volunteer in the event of a widespread pandemic.

Under these proposed measures, the Government will ensure the jobs of skilled, experienced or qualified volunteers are protected for up to four weeks to allow them to shore up resilience across the health and social care systems.

Further proposed measures the Government are thought to be considering include allowing certain civil proceedings in the Magistrates' Courts to be conducted via telephone or video, as well as the expansion of audio and video live links in various criminal proceedings. The provisions will ensure individuals who may be forced to self-isolate are still able to appeal to a court, while ensuring courts can continue to operate even in the height of an epidemic so that justice is delivered.

Following last week's announcement that measures will also consider emergency registration of health professionals who have since retired, the Bill will also look at ensuring that any retired staff who return to work in the NHS will not have their pensions negatively impacted.

Mr Hancock said: "We will do all we can to contain coronavirus, but as we know, COVID-19 is spreading across the world, so I want to ensure government is doing everything in its power to be ready to delay and mitigate this threat.

"Public safety is my top priority. Responding to coronavirus is a massive national effort and I'm working with colleagues across government to ensure we have a proportionate emergency bill, with the right measures to deal with the impacts of a widespread COVID-19 outbreak.

"We plan for the worst and work for the best, and the NHS is working 24/7 to fight this virus. Calls to NHS 111 have increased by more than a third and we have already put in place 500 extra staff to help with this increase. Every person has a role to play in managing the spread of COVID-19 - whether that's washing your hands more often for 20 seconds or catching your sneezes."

The COVID-19 Bill is also expected to have strong safeguards, including sunsetting after two years, and the Government is clear that it will only use proposed measures if needed - based on clinical and scientific advice.