(iwnsvg.com)
The Serious Offences Court, on Friday, ordered that 15 persons, all of whom have what appear to be Chinese names, be quarantined for 14 days in relation to the coronavirus, which has killed more than 1,600 persons in China.
iWitness News was able to independently verify that Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne handed down the order during a special sitting of the Serious Offences Court.
Counsel Duane Daniel and Karen Duncan appeared on behalf of the applicant, Health Officer Dr. Roger Duncan.
The order was granted pursuant to the Public Health Act, 1977 for the isolation of persons exposed to infections.
The order said that the court was “satisfied that the persons named in the said Certificate of Health Officer may be in the incubation stage of the named notifiable disease and are not accommodated in such manner as adequate to guard against the spread of the disease and ought to be removed to a place of isolation”.
The chief magistrate ordered that the persons are to be “detained for a period of not less than 14 days until they are free from infection or able to be discharged without danger to the public health”.
iWitness News was able to confirm the court order amidst widespread reports on social media, on Sunday, that more persons were being held in quarantine than the Ministry of Health had admitted.
The news came even as the Ministry of Health late Friday re-iterated the advice that travel to and from China is discouraged in light of the recent outbreak of coronavirus and said one person was in quarantine.
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