The Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 is a piece of legislation for England and Wales which requires physicians to notify the 'proper officer' of the local authority of any person deemed to be suffering from a

notifiable disease A notifiable disease is any disease that is required by law to be reported to government authorities. The collation of information allows the authorities to monitor the disease, and provides early warning of possible outbreaks. In the case of live ...

.Stephen Monaghan (2002)
The State of Communicable Disease Law
London: The Nuffield Trust. It also provides powers to

isolate Isolate may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Isolate'' (film), a 2013 Australian film * ''Isolate'' (Circus Maximus album), 2007 * ''Isolate'' (Gary Numan album), 1992 Language * Isolating language, with near-unity morpheme/word ...

infected individuals to prevent the spread of such a disease. The act forms the basis of various

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolled bill, enrolling, enactment of a bill, enacting, or promulgation, promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous Government, governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law i ...

connected to the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confir ...

History

The Act has been discussed as a means to detain individuals with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

to prevent the spread of the disease in the UK. A 2000 article in the '' Journal of Public Health'' suggested sections of the Act may need to be amended to adhere to scrutiny from the

European Convention on Human Rights The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by t ...

, which the UK had just joined.

COVID-19 pandemic

This Act was used as the legal basis for the regulations that put into force the

stay at home order A stay-at-home order, safer-at-home order, movement control order (more common in Southeast Asia), or lockdown restrictions (in the United Kingdom) – also referred to by loose use of the terms (self-) quarantine, (self-) isolation, or lockdow ...

announced by

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

on 23 March 2020 in response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020.

The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020 The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020 (SI 2020/350), informally known as "the Lockdown Regulations", was a statutory instrument (SI) enacted on 26 March 2020 by the Secretary of State for Health and Socia ...

Statutory Instrument In many countries, a statutory instrument is a form of delegated legislation. United Kingdom Statutory instruments are the principal form of delegated or secondary legislation in the United Kingdom. National government Statutory instrument ...

350/2020 later gave legal force to some of the 'lockdown' rules that had been announced.

Misinformation Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. It differs from disinformation, which is ''deliberately'' deceptive. Rumors are information not attributed to any particular source, and so are unreliable and often unverified, but can turn ou ...

about the Act circulated online during the COVID-19 pandemic. This included claims that it had been amended to mandate

COVID-19 vaccination A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, an es ...

; according to

Full Fact Full Fact is a British charity, based in London, which checks and corrects facts reported in the news as well as claims which circulate on social media. History and structure Full Fact was founded in 2009 by businessman Michael Samuel, the c ...

, the Act does not provide any power to mandate any treatment or vaccination.

References

United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1984 Public health in the United Kingdom Occupational safety and health law 1984 in British law Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning healthcare Law associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom {{med-stub

History

COVID-19 pandemic

See also

References