2020 No. 232 (W. 54)

Public Health, Wales

The Health Protection (Notification) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2020

Made

Laid before the National Assembly for Wales

Coming into force

The Welsh Ministers make the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 13, 45C(1), (2) and (3)(a), 45F(2)(a) and (b), 45P(2) and 60A of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 19841.

In accordance with section 45Q(3) of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984, the Welsh Ministers declare that they are of the opinion that these Regulations do not contain provision made by virtue of section 45C(3)(c) of that Act which imposes or enables the imposition of a special restriction or requirement2 or any other restriction or requirement which has or would have a significant effect on a person’s rights.

Title and commencement1

The title of these Regulations is the Health Protection (Notification) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 and they come into force on 6 March 2020.

Amendments to the Health Protection (Notification) (Wales) Regulations 20102

1

The Health Protection (Notification) (Wales) Regulations 20103 are amended as follows.

2

In Schedule 1 (notifiable diseases and syndromes), after “Cholera” insert “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)”.

3

In Schedule 2 (causative agents), after “SARS coronavirus” insert “Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)”.

Vaughan GethingMinister for Health and Social Services, one of the Welsh Ministers
EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Health Protection (Notification) (Wales) Regulations 2010 (“the 2010 Regulations”) which place obligations on various persons for the purpose of preventing, protecting against, controlling or providing a public health response to the incidence or spread of infection or contamination.

Regulation 2(2) inserts “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)” into Schedule 1 to the 2010 Regulations for the purposes of adding this to the list of “Diseases and Syndromes” for which there is a duty upon medical practitioners to notify a relevant local authority if a patient they are attending is believed to have such a disease or syndrome. This extends to the notification of suspected disease, infection or contamination in a dead body.

Regulation 2(3) inserts “Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)” into Schedule 2 to the 2010 Regulations for the purposes of adding this to the list of “Causative agents” for which there is a duty upon operators of diagnostic laboratories to notify a relevant local authority if they identify an agent, or evidence of such an agent, in a human sample.

The Welsh Ministers’ Code of Practice on the carrying out of Regulatory Impact Assessments was considered in relation to these Regulations. As a result, a regulatory impact assessment has not been prepared as to the likely cost and benefit of complying with these Regulations.