The House of Commons has passed legislation giving ministers sweeping powers to tackle the Covid-19 crisis.
It moves to the Lords on Tuesday and is expected to become law this week.
The powers will last for two years, being reviewed every six months.
This is what the Coronavirus Bill will mean for our everyday lives…
Closures
Shops and restaurants can be forced to shut, and events can be cancelled.
In reality, much of this has already happened, with eateries closed, concerts postponed and sports leagues suspended.
(Image: Darren Quinton/Birmingham Live)
But the power will be formalised in the legislation so that ministers can axe the gatherings they believe will fuel the spread of coronavirus, or those that will be an unacceptable drain on emergency services whose time could be better spent elsewhere.
It means Whitehall can order authorities to stop people entering premises, or force people who own or are organising an event to cancel it. The legislation also gives ministers the power to close “events or gatherings of a specified description”, meaning they could close bars, restaurants or any other type of specified venue.
However, many hospitality venues have already closeed voluntarily, with no idea of when they will reopen.
Deaths
Doctors will be able to sign death certificates without seeing the patient’s corpse.
Relatives will also be able to register a death without visiting the Register Office in person.
Authorities in England and Wales will be able to cremate a body based on a medical certificate from just one medical practitioner.
The current law requires a second medical certificate confirming the details – a reform that was brought in to stop another offender repeating the mass murders of evil doctor Harold Shipman.
The move “is aimed at simplifying the process in order to address the expected increased volume of deaths” and the need to keep doctors on the front line, the government says.
Easing bureaucracy will allow medics to spend more time on wards treating ill people and saving lives, supporters say.
Mortuaries
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Councils are to be given powers to step up planning to create temporary mortuaries.
National authorities – once sanctioned by a minister – could force individuals or companies to provide their facilities if they could help in the storage, disposal or transportation of dead bodies. Examples include sites at private funeral homes or crematoria.
If a local authority is failing to perform these duties effectively, the government has the power to step in and take over the handling of the deceased.
In some cases, it also gives local authorities the power to direct whether a body is buried or cremated.
Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that inquests into coronavirus-related deaths will not have juries.
Current law says Covid-19 is a “notifiable disease”, which means every related death needs an inquest.
But that would have “significant resource implications” – so, instead, a coroner will be able to hold a simpler inquest without a jury in order to speed up the process.
Quarantine
(Image: Pete Harbour)
Police can force suspected Covid-19 sufferers to undergo a test – and arrest them and fine them £1,000 if they refuse.
Anyone deemed “potentially infectious” can be detained for up to 48 hours while they undergo screening.
If people are infectious, they can be quarantined for 28 days.
Public health officers can exercise further powers if they believe they are “necessary and proportionate” to stop the person infecting others.
This can include forcing people to remain in isolation, and restrictions on travel, activities and contact with other people.
The Bill gives public health officials the power to force someone into isolation for up to 14 days.
If a public health officer believes the person will be “potentially infectious” at the end of the period, it can be extended by up to a further 14 days – 28 days in total.
Retired NHS staff
(Image: PA Wire/Press Association Images)
Recently retired doctors and medical students will be rushed to the front line after fewer
checks, to boost the number of NHS staff available to treat coronavirus patients.
Currently, a former NHS worker’s pension benefits are suspended if they return to work.
However, the emergency legislation will ensure they carry on getting their pension.
Other parts of the bill are designed to slash the amount of red-tape preventing experts coming out of retirement.
Royal College of Nursing chief executive Dame Donna Kinnair said: “Many nursing students and some recently retired nurses will want to play their part.
“We have been clear that students in the last six months of their degree must be free to choose to work. They must also be supported and supervised during their placements, and be properly remunerated.”
Sick pay
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The Bill confirms the move to pay Statutory Sick Pay from the first day of illness or self-isolation – as well as the ability of employers to claw back the first two weeks’ pay from the government.
It also loosens the law so that ministers will quickly be able to change exactly how people become eligible for SSP.
This is because not everyone claiming the benefit now will be ill – some of them will be in self-isolation, for example if they are in a high-risk group or because someone in their household has tested positive.
Ministers say the legislation will give the “flexibility” for the rules on sick pay to follow the latest advice as it emerges from public health experts.
But critics say it does not go far enough, because SSP is too low and not available to low-wage workers or the self-employed.
Shadow Health Secretary Jon Ashworth last night said that the incomes of the self-employed and freelancers “are now increasingly being seriously affected by the coronavirus outbreak”.
Travel
Ministers will be given the power to order ports, airports or international rail terminals to suspend activities if they can show there is a risk of Covid-19 spreading or the Border Force is unable to adequately control the frontier because of pressures elsewhere.
That could include the force being clobbered with a staffing crisis if workers are struck down with coronavirus.
The Bill says the power can only be used if there is a “significant risk” to the public.
The initial suspension can last no longer than six hours. It can be extended by notice for six hours and then at 12-hour intervals if notice is given. But the government must demonstrate each time that the situation would be dangerous if the port is not closed.
In reality, almost all international travel in and out of the UK has already ground to halt.
Supermarkets
(Image: Getty Images)
Stores could be made to co-operate with the government over panic-buying.
The Bill gives ministers sweeping powers to force privately-run supermarkets to disclose any disruption to the food supply.
The Environment Secretary will be able to “require information from persons within, or closely connected to, a food supply chain” if he believes it is at risk of disruption.
Such information cannot be demanded from an individual – protecting farmers and corner shop owners.
But it can be used against food producers, slaughterhouses, packaging centres, distributors and retailers.
Firms that refuse to comply can be fined 1% of their entire turnover, which for a major supermarket firm would be many millions
of pounds.
The measure aims to give Whitehall the clearest, most up-to-date information about food supply.
Again, supermarkets are already voluntarily co-operating with government on supply and to ease panic buying.
