Coronavirus: Government publishes legal notices enforcing mandatory quarantine, travel ban and school closure

Legal notices introducing mandatory quarantine to “guard against” and “control” the coronavirus were published on Thursday evening.

The order issued by the Public Health Superintendent empowers the police to verify whether a person is obeying the quarantine and if not, issue a fine of €1,000.

The fine will apply for each and every occasion that the quarantine period is breached.

Another legal notice imposes mandatory quarantine for 14 days “immediately upon arrival” on people arriving from Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany, Spain, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Iran and South Korea.

The quarantine order will also apply to persons living in the same residence as the person who travelled from these countries.

Additionally, the Public Health Superintendent has issued a travel ban to and from these countries but may make exceptions for “certain persons deemed to be essential”.

The government has said that travel bans will not apply for commercial trade, especially food and medicines.

Another legal notice enforces the closure of all schools and educational institutions, including English Language Schools, for the next week.

Legal provisions have been introduced to lift the burden of time deadlines imposed on notaries when registering contracts, promise of sale agreements and other public documents.