46 of 2014 public and environmental health (control measures)(ebola virus) order 2014

TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS PUBLIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH (CONTROL MEASURES)(EBOLA VIRUS) ORDER 2014 (Legal Notice 46 of 2014) ARRANGEMENT OF PARAGRAPHS PARAGRAPH

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Citation and commencement Persons arriving from Ebola affected countries may be quarantined Health officers Court’s power to order quarantine Offence

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TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS PUBLIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH (CONTROL MEASURES)(EBOLA VIRUS) ORDER 2014 (Legal Notice 46 of 2014) MADE by the Governor under section 9(1) of the Public and Environmental Health Ordinance.

Citation and commencement 1. This Order may be cited as the Public and Environmental Health (Control Measures)(Ebola Virus) Order 2014 and comes into operation on 17 October 2014.

Persons arriving from Ebola affected countries may be quarantined 2. (1) Persons arriving from countries such as Liberia, Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone or other Ebola affected countries shall be— (a) subjected to Ebola screening and passenger tracing; (b) subjected to clinical examination at port of entry; and (c) quarantined, as necessary.

(2) A person who is deemed at high risk of being infected with Ebola virus by a health officer based on travel or contact information but is asymptomatic shall be placed under quarantine in a specified place for up to twenty-one days and monitored daily for fever and symptoms of viral illness by a health officer.

(3) Immigration and Customs officers shall alert health authorities of any person— (a) who has travelled to an Ebola affected country within the last twenty-one days or with symptoms suggestive of Ebola virus; or (b) if they suspect that a person has been exposed to Ebola virus.

(4) A person suspected of having or having been exposed to Ebola virus shall be taken to an isolation room for assessment and evaluation.

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(5) A person who is symptomatic or a person who becomes symptomatic under home-based quarantine shall be placed under quarantine in a designated facility with precaution taken to protect uninfected persons from exposure to the virus.

Health officers 3. All health officers who had direct contact with a person suspected of having Ebola virus or the bodily fluids of such person shall be quarantined in a designated facility for twentyone days.

Court’s power to order quarantine 4. If on the application of a health officer the court is satisfied that a person who is placed under quarantine has failed to comply with such direction, the court may order him to be placed under quarantine for a period specified in the order and a health officer and any police officer may do all things necessary for giving effect to the order.

Offence 5. A person who leaves a specified place or a designated facility when he is placed under quarantine there commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine or to a term of imprisonment. _______________ MADE this 16th day of October 2014.

PETER BECKINGHAM GOVERNOR

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EXPLANATORY NOTE (This Note is not part of the Order) This Order put in place certain measures considered necessary to prevent, control or eliminate the emergent public health threat being posed to the Islands by the Ebola virus disease.

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