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Failure to report communicable disease punishable

25 Mar 2020

His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik has issued Royal Decree 32/2020 amending some provisions of the Law on Combatting Communicable Diseases.

Article 1

The text of articles 19 and 20 of the Law on Combatting Communicable Diseases is hereby replaced with the following:

Whoever fails to report a communicable disease in accordance with the provisions of articles 2,3, and 5 of this law will be punished by imprisonment for a period no less than 3 months and not exceeding 1 year, and a fine no less than RO1,000 and not exceeding RO10,000, or one of those two punishments.

Whoever violates the provisions of articles 5bis 3, 5bis 4, 5bis 5, 5bis 7, and 5bis 8 of this law shall be punished by the same punishment.

If an expatriate is sentenced to the punishment, he will also be deported after serving the punishment.

 

Article 20

With the exception of the cases stipulated in Article 19 of this law, whoever violates any of the provisions of this law, or the ministerial decisions implementing it, will be punished by imprisonment for a period no less than 1 month and not exceeding 1 year, and a fine no less than RO500 and not exceeding RO5,000, or one of those two punishments.

If an expatriated is sentenced to a punishment depriving liberty, his deportation from the country will be adjudicated.

 

Article 2

New articles numbered 5bis, 5bis 1, 5bis 2, 5bis 3, 5bis 4, 5bis 5, 5bis 6, 5bis 7, 5bis 8 are hereby added to the Law on Combatting Communicable Diseases in the following wording:

 

Article 5bis

Person infected with a communicable disease listed in Section I of the schedule attached to this law will be entitled to receive medical care and treatment in government treatment homes in accordance with the rules and procedures specified by the Ministry of Health.

Article 5bis1

All data and information relating to the person infected with a communicable disease mentioned in the schedule attached to this law will be confidential, and they will not be disclosed except in the cases prescribed by law, or with the written consent of that person.

Article 5bis2

The competent health doctor will provide the necessary advice to the person infected with a communicable disease listed in Section I of the schedule attached to this law, and make him aware of the nature of his disease, the methods by which it is transmitted, and inform him of the measures and guidances that he must follow to limit the transmission of the infection to others.

Article 5bis3

A person infected, or suspected of being infected, with a communicable disease listed in Section I of the schedule attached to this law will immediately go to the closest health establishment to undertake a medical examination, to receive treatment and advice, and to be made aware of the dangers of the disease and the methods by which it is transmitted.

Article 5bis4

A person infected with a communicable disease listed in Section I of the schedule attached to this law will provide the health establishment that undertakes his treatment all the information and data of the persons he had contact with in the period prior to his illness as determined by the Ministry of Health.

Article 5bis5

A person coming to the Sultanate, and who is aware that he is infected, or is suspected of being infected, with a communicable disease listed in Section I of the schedule attached to this law will inform the border crossing authorities of this immediately upon his arrival to them, and, if available, will provide these authorities with all documents and records relating to his health.

Article 5bis6

The Ministry of Health may subject a person coming to the sultanate from areas where a communicable disease listed in Section I of the schedule attached to this law to medical examination to ensure that he is free of the disease. The ministry may undertake appropriate procedures and measures including putting him in quarantine and holding his luggage and personal belongings in the places it specifies, in coordination with competent authorities.

Article 5bis7

A person infected, or suspected of being infected, with a communicable disease listed in Section I of the schedule attached to this law will abide by the instructions and guidance prescribed to him from the health establishment undertaking his treatment, and it is prohibited for the person infected with of these diseases – upon his knowledge of the infection – to practise any behaviour that leads to transmitting the disease to others.

Article 5bis8

It is prohibited for any person to disable, or refrain from carrying out, the procedures and measures prescribed to prevent the spread of the infection or its transmission to others.

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