The cabinet wants to replace the temporary corona law this autumn with an amendment to the Public Health Act, so that there is a permanent basis for restrictive measures. Minister Kuipers of Health wants to submit the amendment to the law before September 1, he writes to the House of Representatives.
At the moment it is still the case that corona measures are regulated in the Temporary Act on Covid-19 Measures (Twm). Via this route, the cabinet can, for example, force the wearing of mouth caps in the event of a resurgence of the virus.
Parliament and the Council of State have been wanting to get rid of the Twm for months. Restrictive measures imposed by the government must be properly regulated and that is possible in the existing Public Health Act (Wpg), they believe.
Individual measures
The amended Wpg lays down, among other things, the powers of the Minister of Health to take collective measures in the event of a pandemic. These include closing public spaces, keeping their distance and quarantine rules for people traveling to the Netherlands.
The existing Public Health Act already contains provisions to combat infectious diseases, but this mainly concerns measures at individual level. “Collective measures were required for an epidemic on this scale. The Twm had to temporarily fill that gap,” Kuipers writes.
Because an integral review of the Public Health Act will take a long time, Kuipers will adjust the law in phases. The minister calls on the Houses to deal with the proposal quickly, so that the temporary law can expire as soon as possible.
The current temporary corona law is extended by three months each time. The Senate still has to approve the fifth extension (which runs from 1 March to 1 June). The sixth (where the corona pass has been deleted) is now ready for treatment in both Chambers. If the temporary law is repealed, there will be no legal basis for taking mandatory measures quickly.
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