Under the revised legislation, how extensive are the powers to enforce quarantine and other protective measures during an outbreak?
During an outbreak, the enforcement powers of health officials would be very similar to those in the Health Act. Medical health officers would still be empowered to quarantine and isolate individuals who pose a significant risk of spreading serious communicable diseases to others, but enforcement of these powers would only be used for individuals who do not voluntarily comply with medical health officers orders. An additional provision is included to allow a quarantine order to be made to a group of people to expedite the prevention of disease. This could apply, for example, if employees at a work site or a group of people at a social gathering were exposed to a disease that posed a serious public health risk. The ability to quarantine groups of individuals was an important power that had to be provided to deal with the SARS situation in Ontario, and we wish to provide B.C. health officials with similar powers.
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