PART 1 | 1. This Act is the Infectious Diseases Act 1976. |
2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —| “Agency” means the National Environment Agency established under the National Environment Agency Act 2002; |
“appropriate Minister” means —| (a) | in the following cases, the Minister charged with the responsibility for health and sanitary measures in relation to vessels, aircraft, vehicles and persons entering or leaving Singapore:| (i) | the establishment of any advisory committee under section 5 for the purpose of giving advice to the Director‑General or the Director‑General, Food Administration; | | (ii) | any purpose relating to sections 28, 29 and 33 to 45, including the making of subsidiary legislation in relation to any of those sections; or |
| | (b) | in any other case, the Minister charged with the responsibility for regulation of diseases and disease control; |
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| “baggage” means the personal effects of a traveller or of a crew member of a vessel; |
| “Board” means the Health Promotion Board established under the Health Promotion Board Act 2001; |
| “building” means any house, hut, shed or roofed enclosure, whether intended for the purpose of human habitation or otherwise, and any wall, gate, post, pillar, paling, frame, hoarding, slip, dock, wharf, pier, jetty, landing-stage or bridge; |
| “carrier”, in relation to any infectious disease, means any person who is harbouring or is likely to or is suspected to harbour the agents of that disease; |
| “contact”, in relation to any infectious disease, means any person who has been exposed to the risk of infection from that disease; |
| “contact tracing measure” means any measure to facilitate the tracing of contacts of an infectious disease; |
| “crew” includes any person who is on board a vessel not for the sole purpose of travelling from one place to another but who is employed in the vessel’s service or in connection with its cargo; |
| “dangerous infectious disease” means any of the diseases set out in the Second Schedule; |
| “Director” means the Director of Medical Services and includes a Deputy Director of Medical Services; |
| “Director-General” means the Director‑General of Public Health appointed under section 3(1) of the Environmental Public Health Act 1987; |
| “Director-General, Food Administration” means the Director‑General, Food Administration appointed under section 3(1) of the Sale of Food Act 1973; |
| “Health Officer” means a Health Officer appointed by the Director‑General, the Director‑General, Food Administration or the Director under section 4; |
| “HIV Infection” means Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection; |
| “individually-identifiable”, when used to describe information or samples pertaining to a person, means that the identity of that person can be readily discovered or ascertained from that information or sample; |
| “infected” means infected with the micro‑organism or agent of an infectious disease; |
“infectious disease” means —| (a) | any of the diseases specified in the First Schedule; and | | (b) | for the purposes of sections 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 17A, 19, 55, 57A and 59A, includes any other disease —| (i) | that is caused or is suspected to be caused by a micro‑organism or any agent of disease; | | (ii) | that is capable or is suspected to be capable of transmission by any means to human beings; and | | (iii) | that, the Director has reason to believe, if left uninvestigated or unchecked, is likely to result in an epidemic of the disease; |
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“isolation”, in relation to a person or group of persons, means the separation of that person or group of persons from any other persons, other than —| (a) | the health staff in charge of the care and isolation of that person or group of persons; and | | (b) | such other persons as the Director or the Director‑General (as the case may be) may allow; |
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| “master”, in relation to a vessel, means the person for the time being in charge or command of the vessel; |
“medical examination” includes the carrying out by a person (called the examiner) of any of the measures mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (f), with a view to ascertaining a person’s state of health, whether or not the examiner is present with the person being examined:| (a) | physical examination of the person; | | (b) | obtaining the person’s bodily samples; | | (c) | obtaining images of, or measuring, the person’s physiology; | | (d) | measuring or monitoring the person’s physiological signs; | | (e) | obtaining the clinical history of the person; | | (f) | a measure to facilitate the carrying out of anything in paragraphs (a) to (e); |
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| “medical practitioner” means a medical practitioner registered or exempted from registration under the Medical Registration Act 1997; |
| “minor” means a person who is below 21 years of age; |
| “nurse” means a registered nurse or enrolled nurse within the meaning of the Nurses and Midwives Act 1999; |
| “occupier”, in relation to any premises or vessel, means the person in occupation of the premises or vessel or having the charge or control thereof either on the person’s own account or as an agent of another person; |
| “owner”, in relation to any premises or vessel, means the person for the time being receiving the rent of the premises or vessel whether on the person’s own account or as agent, trustee or receiver or who would receive the same if the premises or the vessel were let or chartered; |
| “port” means any place in Singapore and any navigable river or channel leading into such place declared to be a port under the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore Act 1996 and includes an airport; |
| “Port Health Officer” means any Health Officer in charge of a port and includes his or her deputies and assistants; |
| “pratique”, in relation to a vessel, means the written permission granted by a Port Health Officer to the vessel to disembark and commence operation; |
| “premises” means messuages, buildings, lands, easements and hereditaments of any tenure whether open or enclosed, whether public or private and whether maintained or not under statutory authority, and includes any place or structure or any part thereof used or intended to be used for human habitation or for employment or any other purpose; |
| “public place” means any place or premises to which the public or any section of the public has access, on payment or otherwise, as of right or by virtue of express or implied permission, and includes any place or premises used by the public or a section of the public for educational or recreational purposes or for assemblage; |
| “quarantine” means the compulsory detention in isolation for the purpose and under the provisions of this Act of any ships, persons, goods, things, animals or plants; |
| “quarantine anchorage” means any area of the port which has been appointed for the time being for the quarantine of vessels and declared to be a quarantine anchorage by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore; |
| “quarantine station” means any island, building or place where quarantine is carried out; |
| “surveillance” means subjecting a person or persons to medical examinations or observations carried out over a period of time (whether or not continuously) and includes carrying out any measures to facilitate those medical examinations or observations; |
| “vessel” means any ship, boat, aircraft or a vessel of any description used in navigation by sea or air. [10/2008; 5/2019; 11/2019] |
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