New restrictions in the fight against the COVID19 pandemic - a comment on the new regulation of the Council of Ministers, i.e.: WHERE MASKS SHOULD NOT BE WORN?
NOTE THE FOLLOWING ANALYSIS OF THE LEGAL STATE PREPARED BY AN ASSOCIATE OF OUR LAW OFFICE INCLUDED THE LEGAL STATE AS OF OCTOBER 9, 2020, but this has changed - key changes effective from October 16, 2020. according to the new regulation, it is:
- exemption from the obligation to wear masks in general for all persons traveling together in a car
- abolition of the exemption for recreational sports (including cyclists and runners), currently exempt from the obligation to wear masks are people practicing sports as part of sports competition, sports activities or sports events
In the last few days, the situation related to the coronavirus pandemic in Poland has deteriorated dramatically. The number of new, diagnosed infected people currently exceeds four thousand every day. And contrary to the assurances of those in power, it is growing rapidly. As announced, the new regulation was issued and is effective from Saturday, October 10, 2020. Knowledge of its content is extremely important for two reasons. Firstly, the provisions of the regulation have a significant impact on our daily functioning in the reality of the coronavirus pandemic. Secondly, in accordance with the government's announcements, also from October 10, the so-called yellow zone was announced throughout the country (except for poviats included in the so-called red zone), which results from the sharp increase in the number of infections. Therefore, the provisions for the yellow area no longer apply to people located in specific, individual counties, but to everyone living in the territory of the Republic of Poland. For these reasons, the assumptions of the new regulation should be carefully examined. First of all, it should be noted that a new regulation has been issued, and not the once again amended regulation of the Council of Ministers of August 7, 2020. This is due to the need to maintain the readability of generally applicable legal provisions. For the same reasons, the list of counties included in the red zone is an annex to the regulation. However, as the authors of the draft admit, the regulation largely repeats the restrictions introduced by the regulation of August 7, 2020. Therefore, issues such as the essential criteria for conducting tests to determine whether a person is sick with COVID-19, the rules for crossing borders, or for example, the obligation to disinfect hands in stores. So what will change and what should we pay special attention to in the coming days?
The problem of masks, i.e. the obligation to cover the mouth and nose.
The order to wear masks triggers a loud and often aggressive discussion in public space, which is expressed, for example, by the so-called quarrels over masks, such as these - between the Deputy Speaker of the Sejm, Ryszard Terlecki, and Confederation MPs during the last session of the Sejm, which outraged part of the public opinion. However, leaving political disputes aside, for the sake of our common health, we should focus on how the applicable (to be applicable) regulations regulate the issue of covering the mouth and nose, not on their validity. The new regulation introduces the obligation to cover the mouth and nose (wearing masks). or face shields) in both the red and yellow zones. This means introducing such an obligation throughout the country. Masks will therefore have to be worn not only in shops or public transport vehicles, but also on the streets, i.e. in public places.
De facto everywhere in everyday functioning. The question arises as to where masks will not be required. Especially when the territory of the entire country is raised to the level of a yellow zone, wearing them while, for example, relaxing on the beach has been deemed excessively burdensome. So it's worth considering:
Where (without risking either your health or the obligation to pay a high fine) can you enjoy fresh air without covering your mouth and nose?
Until now, we were exempt from the obligation to wear masks while in forests. Now the list of places has been expanded to include places that have been rightly found to be similar to forests. The obligation to cover the mouth and nose in public places does not apply in the case of: 1) a motor vehicle in which at least one person or one person with at least one child, referred to in point 2, stays or moves; 2) a child up to 5 years of age; 3) a person who cannot cover their mouth or nose due to:
a) pervasive developmental disorders, mental disorders, moderate, severe or profound intellectual disability,
b) difficulties in covering or uncovering the mouth or nose independently;
4) a person performing professional, business or commercial activities in buildings, plants, facilities, establishments and markets (stalls) referred to in section 1 point 2 letter cid, with the exception of a person providing direct service to customers or clients during the service; 5) driver of a means of public transport within the meaning of Art. 4 section 1 point 14 of the Act of 16 December 2010 on public collective transport or a motor vehicle providing commercial passenger transport, if the operator of public collective transport or the organizer of this transport within the meaning of Art. 4 section 1 point 8 and 9 of this Act or an entrepreneur conducting business in the field of commercial passenger transport ensures the separation of the driver from the transported persons in a way that prevents contact within the meaning of Art. 2 point 25 of the Act of December 5, 2008 on preventing and combating infections and infectious diseases in humans; Journal of Laws – 16 – Pos. 1758 6) the manager of the ship referred to in section 1 point 1, if the steering gear is located in a separate room or the shipowner ensures separation of the driver from the transported persons in a way that prevents contact within the meaning of Art. 2 point 25 of the Act of December 5, 2008 on preventing and combating infections and infectious diseases in humans; 7) crewed drivers performing road transport; 8) performing religious worship during its exercise; 9) a soldier of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland and allied forces, as well as an officer of the Military Counterintelligence Service and the Military Intelligence Service, performing official duties, using personal protective equipment appropriate to the type of activities performed; 10) a person whose place of permanent or temporary residence is in public buildings intended for education, health care, social or welfare purposes, unless the manager of such a building decides otherwise; 11) a judge, a coach and a person practicing sports as part of sports competitions, sports activities or sports events referred to in § 6 section 13; 12)
a person staying in a forest, park, green area, botanical garden, historic garden, family allotment garden or beach;
13) horse riding; 14) aviation personnel staying in the cockpit; 15) students and children receiving pre-school education and persons employed in a kindergarten, other form of pre-school education, school or educational institution - on their premises, unless the head of such an entity decides otherwise.
The obligation to wear a mask also does not apply when entering into a marriage before the head of the registry office or before a clergyman.
Uncovering the mouth and nose is also possible in the case of:
1) the need to identify or verify the identity of a given person, as well as in connection with the provision of services to a given person, if it is necessary for their provision; 2) enabling communication with a person experiencing permanent or periodic communication difficulties; 3)
consuming meals or drinks in the premises, catering garden, separate catering zone, referred to in § 30 section 1 point 4;
4) consuming meals or drinks after taking a seat in a train subject to mandatory seat reservation, including meals and drinks served on board the train. As we know, population centers pose the greatest risk of infection with the coronavirus, which spreads through droplets. We should therefore look at restrictions for situations where larger numbers of people necessarily gather. The regulation introduces a limit on the number of people who can take part in weddings, communion or baptism celebrations, wakes and other special events. This number depends on the area's classification into the yellow or red zone. – for the red zone it is 50 people, – for the yellow zone it is 75 people, – in the remaining area it is 100 people. These numbers do not include people serving these meetings, including waiters, cooks and other catering staff. The new regulations also provide for restrictions on the operation of catering establishments in the red zone. According to the draft regulation, these could only be open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. This restriction does not apply to the delivery of food and takeaway products. The new regulations will be very difficult for those running discos and nightclubs. Following the police's instructions, the government decided to prohibit such activities until further notice. This solution may raise doubts from the point of view of its compliance with the Constitution. It violates the constitutional principle of freedom of economic activity by means of a sub-statutory act such as a regulation. Changes involving the organization of public gatherings are also very important in the context of minimizing the risk of infection in large crowds. According to the assumptions presented in the discussed project, not only their number is to be limited, but also the distance between gatherings is to be at least 100 m. An important change that affects our everyday functioning is the restoration of the obligation to present a medical certificate at the request of the police (or municipal guard). or another document that would certify circumstances exempting from the obligation to wear masks. It is necessary to emphasize here a significant change in the position of the police (which was involved in the preparation of this project together with the Ministry of Health). It is characterized by considerable decisiveness and increased rigorism. According to the statistics quoted by the Chief Commander of Police, 80% reactions to violations of "anti-COVID" regulations are warnings, and 20% are financial sanctions. The police propose reversing this trend, given the constantly growing number of infected people, in order to mobilize society more to obey the law. Important changes also concern the organization of the so-called rehabilitation stays. Their implementation will only be possible if both the participant and his/her guardian have obtained a negative test for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. In turn, we can talk about a certain "relaxation" of regulations in the context of admission rules to hospices and palliative medicine wards. The patient will not have to present a diagnostic test before admission to the hospice or ward if, due to his health condition, it is necessary to urgently admit him to care. In such situations, the test will be performed after the patient is admitted, financed from public funds. This seems to be important for shaping a coherent policy that has the well-being and health of citizens as its primary goal. Although the final assessment of the regulation will only be possible after its content is published, it is clearly visible that the government is deciding to tighten the restrictions due to the deteriorating epidemic situation in Poland. This is primarily achieved by recognizing the entire territory of the Republic of Poland as a yellow area, mentioned in the introduction. However, regardless of the pace of changes and the content of applicable legal provisions, we all must be highly responsible and self-disciplined. Covering the mouth and nose, keeping distance and frequent disinfection, although they can be burdensome, are currently the only widely available means of fighting the coronavirus. It is important to follow these rules for the sake of common health. As a team at the Law Firm, we also wish you all good health and a quick return to normality, despite the unoptimistic statistics. But this requires common sense from all of us and care for our common safety. Whoever doesn't wear it, spreads it! – this slogan still seems like an exaggeration today, but everything indicates that in a few days we will all have it on our lips. It is much better to have even a radical slogan on your lips than a plastic tube in your mouth. Maciej Bujalski Team Member KancelariaKlodzinski.pl Feel free to ask questions in the comments
