Police will be handed sweeping powers to keep someone in quarantine for a month under emergency coronavirus laws.

People who refuse to be tested for Covid-19 can be held for up to 48 hours, forced to undergo a test, and fined £1,000 if they flee.

If public health officials then decide they are at risk of infecting others, they can be held in isolation for 14 days.

And if they're still a risk at the end of those 14 days, they can be held for a further period of up to 14 days - 30 days' total.

The drastic power was buried deep in the text of a 329-page Coronavirus Bill that will be rushed through Parliament next week.

The drastic power was buried deep in the text of a 329-page Coronavirus Bill (
Image:
AFP via Getty Images)

Tory ministers plan to give themselves vast powers over almost every aspect of public life in order to curb the spread of the Covid-19 outbreak.

It allows mentally ill people to be detained or dead people to be medically certified on the opinion of just one doctor.

Sweeping powers will force supermarkets to disclose any problems in the food supply or be fined 1% of their turnover.

And morgues could be expanded and inquests stripped back in order to deal with at least 25,000 anticipated deaths.

Meanwhile a new "volunteer leave" will allow people to take unpaid time off if they want to help deal with the epidemic.

And it will become easier for retired medics and medical students to join the frontline even if they haven't ticked every box of their qualifications.

Under Schedule 20 of the law, police, immigration officers and public health officials will have the power to force someone to undergo a coronavirus test.

Anyone deemed “potentially infectious” can be detained for up to 48 hours, or 12 hours by immigration officials, while they undergo a screening for the disease.

Anyone “reasonably suspected” to have the virus, or to have been in an infected area in the last 14 days, can be held under this power.

They must be informed of their rights but it will be a criminal offence to refuse or to abscond.

Coronavirus deaths and cases across the world

County, deaths, cases

Mainland China 3,237, 80,873

Italy 2,941, 31,506

Iran 988, 16,169

Spain 533, 11,826

Germany 26, 9,367

South Korea 84, 8,413

France 175, 7,730

United States 109, 6,469

Switzerland 27, 2,742

United Kingdom 71, 1,950

Netherlands 43, 1,705

Japan 36, 1,614

Norway 3, 1,470

Austria 4, 1,332

Belgium 10, 1,243

Sweden 8, 1,196

Denmark 4, 977

Malaysia 2, 673

Canada 8, 598

Australia 5, 452

Portugal 1, 448

Qatar 0, 442

Czech Republic 0, 434

Greece 5, 387

Brazil 1, 346

Israel 0, 337

Finland 0, 322

Ireland 2, 292

Slovenia 1, 275

Singapore 0, 266

Iceland 0, 247

Pakistan 1, 247

Bahrain 1, 241

Poland 5, 238

Estonia 0, 225

Romania 0, 217

Chile 0, 201

Egypt 6, 196

Philippines 14, 187

Thailand 1, 177

Indonesia 7, 172

Saudi Arabia 0, 171

Hong Kong 4, 168

Iraq 11, 154

India 3, 143

Luxembourg 1, 140

Kuwait 0, 130

Lebanon 4, 124

San Marino 11, 119

Peru 0, 117

Russia 0, 114

UAE 0, 113

Ecuador 2, 111

Turkey 1, 98

Slovakia 0, 97

South Africa 0, 85

Mexico 0, 82

Bulgaria 2, 81

Argentina 2, 79

Armenia 0, 78

Taiwan 1, 77

Serbia 0, 72

Croatia 0, 69

Panama 1, 69

Vietnam 0, 66

Colombia 0, 65

Algeria 5, 61

Latvia 0, 60

Brunei 0, 56

Albania 1, 55

Costa Rica 0, 50

Hungary 1, 50

Uruguay 0, 50

Cyprus 0, 49

Faroe Islands 0, 47

Morocco 1, 44

Palestinian Territories 0, 44

Sri Lanka 0, 44

Jordan 0, 42

Andorra 0, 39

Malta 0, 38

Senegal 0, 37

Belarus 0, 36

Azerbaijan 1, 34

Bosnia 0, 34

Georgia 0, 34

Oman 0, 33

Kazakhstan 0, 33

Venezuela 0, 33

North Macedonia 0, 31

Moldova 0, 30

Lithuania 0, 26

Tunisia 0, 25

Afghanistan 0, 22

Cambodia 0, 21

Dominican Republic 1, 21

New Zealand 0, 20

Liechtenstein 0, 19

Burkina Faso 0, 15

Martinique 1, 15

Jamaica 0, 15

Ukraine 2, 14

Macau 0, 13

Maldives 0, 13

Bolivia 0, 12

French Guiana 0, 11

Uzbekistan 0, 11

Bangladesh 0, 10

Cameroon 0, 10

Guatemala 1, 8

Guyana 1, 7

Cayman Islands 1, 1

Sudan 1, 1

If someone is convicted of this offence by magistrates, they can be fined up £1,000 under the proposed law. Fines in other territories including Scotland could be higher.

If, after being tested, public health officers believe further restrictions are “necessary and proportionate” to stop the person infecting others, they will have the power to exercise them.

This can include forcing people to remain in isolation, and restrictions on travel, activities and contact with other people.

The Bill gives public health officials the power to force someone into isolation for up to 14 days.

If a public health officer believes the person will be "potentially infectious" at the end of the period, it can be extended by up to a further 14 days - 28 in total.

What is the latest government advice on coronavirus?

The government has advised the British public to:

  • Avoid pubs, clubs, restaurants and all social gatherings
  • Cease all unnecessary travel
  • Everyone should work from home where possible
  • Mass gatherings and sporting events have been cancelled
  • Avoid “all but essential travel” worldwide
  • If one person in any household has a persistent cough or fever, everyone living there must stay at home for 14 days

  • Pregnant women, those over 70, and people with certain health conditions have been asked to stay at home for 12 weeks

  • Schools, colleges and nurseries to close from Friday - GCSEs and A-levels cancelled

Once an extension has happened, however, the forced isolation must be reviewed at least every 24 hours and if the person is no longer infectious they can be released.

This suggests it would only be in rare cases that someone is held for the full 30 days.

However, the quarantine can be enforced by police - who can take anyone who absconds into custody and then forcibly return them into quarantine.

Overall, these powers exist for as long as ministers have declared there is a “serious and imminent threat to public health” from COVID-19.

John Apter, chairman of the Police Federation of rank and file officers, said that the measures place his members in a difficult position.

He told The Times: "It is going to be difficult for colleagues to be dealing with someone who is really a patient, but dealing with them as a prisoner.

"My colleagues are contacting me from the front line saying, ‘We’re not getting this equipment we need’."