State given powers to impose lockdown in Covid-19 cluster areas

Under new emergency legislation signed into law by President Michael D Higgins on Friday of last week, March 20, the State will have powers to impose an effective lockdown on particular areas of the country where there may be sustained human transmission of Covid-19, or the risk of it.

The unprecedented new laws, which were passed by the Dail on Thursday night last without a vote, and passed by the Seanad on Friday, could see travel bans being imposed on town or areas where a cluster of Covid-19 cases are found. These areas would then be placed on lockdown such as we have seen in Italy, Spain and France with travel both into and out of the region being severely restricted or banned.

This is just one of the measures in the new legislation which also gives the State wide ranging new powers to detain people, restrict travel in and out of the country, prohibit events and ban access to certain premises.

Speaking in the Dail last week during the introduction of the Health (Preservation and Protection and other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) Bill 2020, Health Minister, Simon Harris, said, in theory the Dail could shut down house parties and that aspect of the legislation was important.

“We know in some countries people have been more likely to get the coronavirus in their own homes rather than anywhere else” said the Minister.

The Bill has two main sections, one covering the extension of illness benefits to those who have lost their jobs as a result of Covid-19 and the second, and most controversial section, which gives the State detention powers.

Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the new emergency legislation relates to the detention of people with Covid-19 if they are deemed to pose a health risk. The detention order can be granted on the advice of a Medical Health Officer and the person who is the subject of the order can be detained in their home, in a hospital or at any other location deemed fit.

The Bill also gives the State powers to order people to remain in their homes and to prevent or close down certain types of events.

An indication of the seriousness with which the government perceive the threat to the health of the nation posed by Covid-19  is the size of the penalties to be imposed on anyone who is found to in breach of any of the measures contained in the new Bill, amounting to €2,500 or up to six months in jail.