Police may soon have the power to detain and people who put public health at risk by refusing to self-isolate in the UK during the coronavirus pandemic.
The government’s emergency bill will allow police and immigration officers “to support and enforce public health measures including powers to detain people and put them in appropriate isolation facilities if necessary to protect public health”.
Talking on the Andrew Marr Show, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said “We are going to take the powers to make sure that we can quarantine people if they are a risk to public health, yes, and that’s important.
“I doubt that actually we will need to use it much because people have been very responsible.”
It is not yet clear if or when the emergency bull will come into effect.
