The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (Wales) Regulations 2020
| Jurisdiction | Wales |
| Citation | SI 2020/353 |
2020 No. 353 (W. 80)
Public Health, Wales
The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (Wales) Regulations 2020
Made 26th March 2020
Laid before the National Assembly for Wales 27th March 2020
Coming into force 26th March 2020
The Welsh Ministers make the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 45C(1) and (3)(c), 45F(2) and 45P of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 19841.
These Regulations are made in response to the serious and imminent threat to public health which is posed by the incidence and spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Wales.
The Welsh Ministers consider that restrictions and requirements imposed by these Regulations are proportionate to what they seek to achieve, which is a public health response to that threat.
In accordance with section 45R of that Act the Welsh Ministers are of the opinion that, by reason of urgency, it is necessary to make this instrument without a draft having been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, the National Assembly for Wales.
Title, coming into force, application and interpretation
1.—(1) The title of these Regulations is the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (Wales) Regulations 2020 and they come into force at 4.00 p.m. on 26 March 2020.
(2) These Regulations apply in relation to Wales.
(3) In these Regulations—
(a)
(a) “carer” means a person who provides care for the person assisted where—
(i) the carer is entitled to an assessment under section 24 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 20142,
(ii) the care is part of the provision of community care services under Part 4 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, or
(iii) the care is provided by a care provider registered under Part 1 of the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 20163;
(b)
(b) “coronavirus” means severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2);
(c)
(c) “local authority” means the council of a county or county borough in Wales;
(d)
(d) a “person responsible for carrying on a business” includes the owner, proprietor, and manager of that business;
(e)
(e) “vulnerable person” includes—
(i) any person aged 70 or older;
(ii) any person under 70 who has an underlying health condition, including, but not limited to, the conditions listed in Schedule 2;
(iii) any person who is pregnant.
Revocation
2.—(1) The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Business Closure) (Wales) Regulations 20204and the Health Protection (Coronavirus: Closure of Leisure Businesses, Footpaths and Access Land) (Wales) Regulations 20205are revoked.
(2) Notwithstanding the revocation of those Regulations, they continue in force in relation to any offence committed under them before these Regulations came into force.
The emergency period and review of need for restrictions
3.—(1) For the purposes of these Regulations the “emergency period”—
(a)
(a) starts when these Regulations come into force, and
(b)
(b) ends in relation to a requirement or restriction imposed by these Regulations on the day and at the time specified in a direction published by the Welsh Ministers terminating the requirement or restriction (see paragraphs (3) and (4)).
(2) The Welsh Ministers must review the need for restrictions and requirements imposed by these Regulations every 21 days, with the first review being carried out by 15 April 2020.
(3) As soon as the Welsh Ministers consider that a requirement or restriction imposed by these Regulations is no longer necessary to prevent, protect against, control or provide a public health response to the incidence or spread of infection in Wales with the coronavirus, the Welsh Ministers must publish a direction terminating the requirement or restriction.
(4) A direction published under this regulation may—
(a)
(a) terminate any one or more requirement or restriction;
(b)
(b) terminate a requirement or restriction in relation to a specified business or service or a specified description of business or service.
(5) In this regulation, “specified” means specified in a direction.
Requirement to close premises and businesses during the emergency period
4.—(1) A person responsible for carrying on a business which is listed in Part 1 of Schedule 1 must, during the emergency period—
(a)
(a) close any premises, or part of the premises, in which food or drink are sold for consumption on those premises;
(b)
(b) cease selling food or drink for consumption on its premises (but if the business sells food and drink for consumption off the premises it may continue to do so subject to regulation 6(1)).
(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1), food or drink sold by a hotel or other accommodation as part of room service is not to be treated as being sold for consumption on its premises.
(3) For the purposes of paragraph (1), an area adjacent to the premises of the business where seating is made available for customers of the business (whether or not by the business) is to be treated as part of the premises of that business.
(4) A person responsible for carrying on a business or providing a service which is listed in Part 2 or 3 of Schedule 1 must, during the emergency period, cease to carry on that business or to provide that service.
(5) But paragraph (4) does not prevent the use of—
(a)
(a) premises used for the businesses or services listed in paragraphs 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 or 18 of Part 2 to broadcast (without an audience) a performance (whether over the internet or as part of a radio or television broadcast);
(b)
(b) any suitable premises used for the businesses or services listed in Part 2 or 3 of that Schedule to provide, upon the request of the Welsh Ministers or a local authority, urgent public services (including the provision of food or other support for the homeless or vulnerable persons, blood donation sessions or support in an emergency);
(c)
(c) premises used as a museum, gallery or library, or for providing archive services, for the provision of information or other services—
(i) through a website, or otherwise by on-line communication,
(ii) by telephone, including orders by text message, or
(iii) by post.
(6) If a business listed in Schedule 1 (“business A”) forms part of a larger business (“business B”), the person responsible for carrying on business B complies with the requirement in paragraph (1) or (4) if it closes down business A.
Requirement to close premises and businesses during the emergency period: specific provision about holiday etc. accommodation
5.—(1) In so far as regulation 4(4) applies to a holiday site or camping site (by virtue of them being listed in Part 3 of Schedule 1), the obligation on the person responsible for carrying on the business (“P”) includes an obligation on P to use P’s best endeavours to require any person staying at the site when the business has ceased to be carried on to vacate the premises.
(2) But the obligation in paragraph (1) does not apply in relation to any person using a mobile home on a holiday site for human habitation under an agreement to which Part 4 of the Mobile Homes (Wales) Act 20136applies.
(3) In so far as regulation 4(4) applies to any other business listed in Part 3 of Schedule 1, the obligation on the person responsible for carrying on the business applies subject to the need to—
(a)
(a) provide accommodation for any persons staying in that accommodation when these Regulations come into force and who—
(i) are unable to return to their main residence, or
(ii) are using the accommodation as their main residence;
(b)
(b) carry on the business, or keep any premises used in the business open, for any purpose as may be requested by the Welsh Ministers or a local authority.
(4) In this regulation and in Part 3 of the Schedule, a “holiday site” means any land in Wales on which a mobile home or caravan is stationed for the purposes of human habitation (including any land in Wales used in conjunction with that land), in respect of which the relevant planning permission or the site licence for the land—
(a)
(a) is expressed to be granted for holiday use only, or
(b)
(b) requires that there are times of the year when no mobile home or caravan may be stationed on the site for human habitation.
(5) For the purpose of determining whether or not a site is a holiday site, any provision of the relevant planning permission or of the site licence which permits the stationing of a mobile home on the land for human habitation all year round is to be ignored if the mobile home is authorised to be occupied by—
(a)
(a) the person who is the owner of the site, or
(b)
(b) a person employed by that person but who does not occupy the mobile home under an agreement to which Part 4 of the Mobile Homes (Wales) Act 20137applies.
Restrictions on certain other businesses and services during the emergency period
6.—(1) A person responsible for carrying on a business, or providing a service, listed in Part 4 of Schedule 1 must, during the emergency period—
(a)
(a) take all reasonable measures to ensure that a distance of 2 metres is maintained between any persons on the business premises (except between two members of the same household, or a carer and the person assisted by the carer),
(b)
(b) take all reasonable measures to ensure that persons are only admitted to the business premises in sufficiently small numbers to make it possible to maintain that distance, and
(c)
(c) take all reasonable measures to ensure that a distance of 2 metres is maintained between persons waiting to enter the business premises (except between two...
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