Legislation – The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2022

Part 2A of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 enables the Welsh Ministers, by regulations, to make provision for the purpose of preventing, protecting against, controlling or providing a public health response to the incidence or spread of infection or contamination in Wales.

These Regulations are made in response to the serious and imminent threat to public health which is posed by the incidence and spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Wales.

These Regulations amend the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1609 (W. 335)) (“the principal Regulations”) to provide that, under the Alert Level 2 restrictions in Schedule 2 to the principal Regulations, up to 500 people may be present at an outdoor event. This figure does not include persons working or providing voluntary services at the event. In addition where the event is a team sports event, the principal Regulations treat members of the teams and those providing coaching or otherwise assisting the teams as working at the event.

These Regulations also make a minor amendment to regulation 16 of the principal Regulations which is consequential on the changes made to the principal Regulations by the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 25) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/1485 (W. 386)).

The Welsh Ministers’ Code of Practice on the carrying out of Regulatory Impact Assessments was considered in relation to these Regulations. In accordance with the Code, a regulatory impact assessment as to the likely cost and benefit of complying with these Regulations has not been carried out, due to the need to put them in place urgently to deal with a serious and imminent threat to public health.