News

Amendments to COVID-19 regulations and a notice to extend by two months current inter-island travel and boating regulations were Gazetted on Wednesday, 14 July 2021.

An amendment of Regulation 5 of the Prevention, Control and Suppression of Covid-19 (No.2) Regulations, 2021, relating to the wearing of masks provides business owners and operators with the authority to require any person who visits their establishment to wear a mask and to refuse entry to any person who refuses to do so.

New Regulation 6A was added to the Prevention, Control and Suppression of Covid-19 (No.2) Regulations, 2021, in order to prevent the removal or passing of items from a person at a place of quarantine or in isolation to anyone from the outside.

Regulation 6A also expressly provides for the mandatory isolation, if necessary in the opinion of the Medical Officer of Health, of any person from the outside who has handled an item from a known quarantine facility.

The new regulation does provide a special defence for persons charged with an offence of handling an item from a place of quarantine or self-isolation. This occurs where the person charged can prove that they did not know that the item was from a place of quarantine or self-isolation, or had been handled by a person in a place of quarantine or self-isolation.

Exception is also made for items that have been removed or passed from the place of quarantine or self-isolation for public health reasons, with the approval of the Medical Officer of Health.

The amendments to the regulations, as well as the notice on inter-island travel and boating regulations, expire on 15 September, 2021.

The updated regulations can be found at: http://gazettes.gov.ky/portal/pls/portal/docs/1/13090829.PDF

The notice to on inter-island travel and boating can be found at: http://gazettes.gov.ky/portal/pls/portal/docs/1/13090830.PDF

(GIS)