(1) This section
applies if —
(a) the
Chief Health Officer is notified under section 94 that a contact person may be
the source of, or may have been exposed to, a notifiable infectious disease;
or
(b) in
response to a requirement made under section 133(1), 134(1) or 135(2), an
authorised officer receives information that a contact person may be the
source of, or may have been exposed to, a notifiable infectious disease.
(2) If this section
applies, the Chief Health Officer or, as the case requires, the authorised
officer may take reasonable steps to ensure —
(a) that
the contact person is informed that he or she may be the source of, or may
have been exposed to, a notifiable infectious disease; and
(b) that
the contact person is provided with information about the disease, including
information about —
(i)
the contact person’s obligations under
section 88(2) to (4); and
(ii)
the contact person’s rights under section 88(5);
and
(iii)
preventing the transmission of the disease to any other
person;
and
(c) that
the contact person is tested and, if necessary, treated for the disease.
(3) In determining
whether or not to take steps under subsection (2) and, if steps are to be
taken, what steps, the Chief Health Officer or, as the case requires, the
authorised officer must have regard to —
(a) the
degree of the risk of the contact person having the notifiable infectious
disease or, as the case requires, having contracted, or contracting, the
disease; and
(b) any
guidelines issued by the Chief Health Officer under section 140; and
(c) any
other relevant circumstances.
(4) Without limiting
subsection (2), the steps that the Chief Health Officer or authorised officer
may take include requesting any of the following persons to do one or more of
the things referred to in that subsection —
(a) a
medical practitioner;
(b) a
nurse practitioner;
(c) any
other person whom the Chief Health Officer or authorised officer considers
appropriate in the circumstances.
(5) If the contact
person is a child or a person who for any other reason does not have the
capacity to understand the information that would otherwise be provided to
them under subsection (2)(a) or (b), the Chief Health Officer or, as the case
requires, the authorised officer may take steps under subsection (2) to ensure
that the information is instead provided to —
(a) if
the contact person is a child, a parent or guardian of the child; or
(b) in
any other case, a person who is a carer (as defined in the
Carers Recognition Act 2004 section 4) in relation to the contact person.