Jail term, hefty fine for failing to report Covid-19

Muscat: The Supreme Committee on Covid-19 has issued a stringent warning to those not following the instructions, including the reporting of the disease or quarantine guidelines,

"Whoever fails to report a contagious disease, shall be punished with imprisonment for a period of no less than three months and not exceeding a year, and a fine of no less than RO1,000 riyals and no more than RO10,000, or one of these two penalties," as per the Royal Decree 32/2020:

Amending Some Provisions of the Law on the Control of Communicable Diseases

Article 1

The text of articles 19 and 20 of the Law on the Control of Communicable Diseases is hereby replaced with the following:

Whoever fails to report a communicable disease in accordance with the provisions of articles 2,3, and 5 of this law shall be punished by imprisonment for a period no less than 3 (three) months and not exceeding 1 (one) year, and a fine no less than 1,000 (one thousand) Rial Omani and not exceeding 10,000 (ten thousand) Rial Omani, or one of those two punishments.

Whoever violates the provisions of articles 5bis 3, 5bis 4, 5bis 5, 5bis 7, and 5bis 8 of this law shall be punished by the same punishment.

If an alien (foreigner) is sentenced to a punishment depriving liberty, his deportation from the country shall be adjudicated.

Article 20

With the exception of the cases stipulated in article 19 of this law, whoever violates any of the provisions of this law, or the ministerial decisions implementing it, shall be punished by imprisonment for a period no less than RO1,000 and not exceeding 1 (one) year, and a fine no less than RO500 and not exceeding RO5,000, or one of those two punishments.

If an alien is sentenced to a punishment depriving liberty, his deportation from the country shall be adjudicated.

New articles numbered 5bis, 5bis 1, 5bis 2, 5bis 3, 5bis 4, 5bis 5, 5bis 6, 5bis 7, 5bis 8 are hereby added to the Law on the Control of Communicable Diseases in the following wording:

A person infected with a communicable disease listed in Section I of the schedule attached to this law shall be entitled to receive medical care and treatment in government treatment homes in accordance with the rules and procedures specified by the Minister of Health.

All data and information relating to the person infected with a communicable disease mentioned in the schedule attached to this law shall be confidential, and they shall not be disclosed except in the cases prescribed by law, or with the written consent of that person.

The competent health doctor shall provide the necessary advice to the person infected with a communicable disease listed in Section I of the schedule attached to this law, and make him aware of the nature of his disease, the methods by which it is transmitted, and inform him of the measures and guidances that he must follow to limit the transmission of the infection to others.

A person infected, or suspected of being infected, with a communicable disease listed in Section I of the schedule attached to this law shall immediately go to the closest health establishment to undertake a medical examination, to receive treatment and advice, and to be made aware of the dangers of the disease and the methods by which it is transmitted.

A person infected with a communicable disease listed in Section I of the schedule attached to this law shall provide the health establishment that undertakes his treatment all the information and data of the persons he had contact within the period prior to his illness as determined by the Ministry of Health.

A person coming to the Sultanate, and who is aware that he is infected, or is suspected of being infected, with a communicable disease listed in Section I of the schedule attached to this law shall inform the border crossing authorities of this immediately upon his arrival to them, and, if available, shall provide these authorities with all documents and records relating to his health.

The Ministry of Health may subject a person coming to the Sultanate from areas where a communicable disease listed in Section I of the schedule attached to this law to a medical examination to ensure that he is free of the disease. The Ministry may undertake appropriate procedures and measures including putting him in quarantine and holding his luggage and personal belongings in the places it specifies, in coordination with competent authorities.

A person infected or suspected of being infected, with a communicable disease listed in Section I of the schedule attached to this law shall abide by the instructions and guidance prescribed to him from the health establishment undertaking his treatment, and it is prohibited for the person infected with of these diseases - upon his knowledge of the infection - to practice any behavior that leads to transmitting the disease to others.

It is prohibited for any person to disable or refrain from carrying out, the procedures and measures prescribed to prevent the spread of the infection or its transmission to others.