This post includes a rolling update of new legislation and current guidance on coronavirus COVID-19 from May 2022 *.

Legislation

Metropolitan Police: Met’s investigation into alleged breaches of Covid regulations, Op Hillman, concludes. “The Met has today [19 May 2022] announced the investigation into alleged breaches of Covid regulations at Downing Street and Whitehall, under Operation Hillman, is complete. In total, detectives have made 126 referrals for fixed penalty notices (FPNs) to the ACRO Criminal Records Office for breaches of Covid-19 regulations. These referrals relate to events on [eight] dates. Of the referrals, all resulted or will do so in a FPN being issued.  In total, this refers to 83 individuals. The breakdown of recipients is 53 FPNs were issued to 35 men and 73 FPNs to 48 women. A total of 28 people received between two and five referrals…”.  (updated 19 May 2022). §

Notifiable diseases and causative organisms: how to report: Notifications of infectious diseases (NOIDs) and reportable causative organisms: legal duties of laboratories and medical practitioners. COVID-19 remains a notifiable disease. (last updated 9 June 2021).§

Coronavirus Act report: May 2022: The Coronavirus Act 2020 gives the government temporary powers to take the right action to respond effectively to the progress of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, for example by making it easier for people to receive their Statutory Sick Pay. The Act requires ministers to report every 2 months on which powers are currently active. (25 May 2022).§

Ministerial Code: Cabinet Office, (27 May 2022).§

Statement of government policy: standards in public life: Policy paper, Cabinet Office. (27 May 2022).§

The Health Protection (Notification) (Amendment) Regulations 2022, SI 2022/616. These Regulations amend the Health Protection (Notification) Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/659). They apply in relation to England only. Regulation 2(2) adds monkeypox to the list of notifiable diseases in Schedule 1. Regulation 2(3) adds monkeypox virus to the list of causative agents in Schedule 2. Applying to England only, these regulations come into force on 8 June 2022. §

Coronavirus Act 2020: status table. This table sets out the status of provisions in the Coronavirus Act 2020. It covers the part of the act (part 1) that facilitates legislative and regulatory changes that support the UK’s response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak; The Act also makes provision, in part 2, for enabling the ‘switching off’ of part 1 provisions when they are not needed and for reporting and accountability mechanisms that support government accountability for the use of the part 1, non-devolved, provisions. One such mechanism is the facility for provisions that are in force to be suspended and then subsequently revived, as and when the course of events permits or requires. DHSC. (Updated 7 July 2022). §

Coronavirus (COVID-19) – Advice for workplaces. COVID-19 restrictions replaced by public health advice, HSE. [Page last reviewed: 6 July 2022, Next review due: 30 August 2022].§

Corporate report: Coronavirus Act report: May 2022. The thirteenth two-monthly report on which powers in the Coronavirus Act 2020 are currently act. DHSC. (14 July 2022).§

Coronavirus: the lockdown laws. House of Commons Library. 14 July 2022.§

UK Health Security Agency Press release: Over 50s to be offered COVID-19 booster and flu jab this autumn. Everyone aged 50 and over will be among those offered a COVID-19 booster and a flu jab this autumn under plans to increase protection against respiratory viruses ahead of winter. (15 July 2022).§

Coronavirus Act reports: Two-monthly and yearly reports on which powers in the Coronavirus Act 2020 are currently active. DHSC. (20 July 2022).§

Reports

• Findings of Second Permanent Secretary’s Investigation into alleged gatherings on government premises during COVID restrictions, (a.k.a. Sue Gray’s Report, v infra), Cabinet Office. 25 May 2022.
• Christina Pagel, BMJ: The COVID waves continue to come. 17 June 2022.
• The impact of Covid-19 on legal weddings and non-legally binding ceremonies, Probert, Akhtar, Blake and Pywell. (July 2022).

Guidance

Using the NHS COVID Pass to demonstrate COVID-19 status, DHSS, (12 May 2022). The NHS COVID Pass lets the holder share their coronavirus (COVID-19) status records in a secure way. It allows them to show others the details of their COVID-19 status when travelling abroad to some countries or territories. The domestic NHS COVID Pass is no longer available for venues or events to use as a condition of entry.§

Church of England‡

On 18 July 2022, the Church of England issued “COVID-19 Opening and managing church buildings“, now at version 3.2. This is an update of the previous guidance (3 May 2022) to include revised situation report and changes in government guidance on risk assessments.

It is prefaced on the COVID-19 guidance page by: “[a]s national case numbers remain high it is important that, while we should continue to offer Holy Communion in both kinds, no pressure is placed on individual members of congregation to receive the sacrament if they feel unable to do so”.

Other current material advice includes:

• COVID-19 Livestreaming Worship, v1.1, (8 December 2020).
• Risk Assessment Template for Opening Church Buildings to the Public, v.11, (21 March 2021).
• Mental and Emotional Wellbeing and the Church: Some Helpful Resources: March 2021.

and much earlier material prepared by The Liturgical Commission:

• Marking our Communities 2: Prayers of Lament, Thanksgiving and Restoration, v.1, 3 June 2020.
• Marking our Communities 3 When we meet again: remembering and memorials, v1, 3 June 2020.

Other guidance and resources on this page are unchanged, and specific enquiries should be addressed to  mark.betson@churchofengland.org.

Cytûn

The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) Regulations 2020 expired at midnight on 31 May 2022. Cytûn’s COVID-19 page was further updated to reflect the new situation, with links to continuing Welsh Government guidance and to other sources of advice and information and some information particularly pertinent to places of worship. It will continue to be updated periodically as circumstances require. (30 May 2022). §

Earlier update of COVID-19 Briefing Paper. This acknowledges that COVID remains prevalent in Wales and notes that the understanding and attitudes of many members of the public about the risk of catching contagious illnesses have changed due to the experience of the pandemic:

“The implementation of legal and moral duties, therefore, is now happening in a different context from that which prevailed in February 2020, and simply reverting to the practices of that time may be neither desirable nor appropriate”

25 April 2022.§

Roman Catholic Church

Returning to Mass at Pentecost: Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales. This informs the faithful that “the reasons which have prevented Catholics from attending Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation no longer apply”. The bishops concede, however, that online worship “may, however, be a source of continual spiritual comfort to those who cannot attend Mass in person, for example, those who are elderly and sick, for whom the obligation does not apply”. (9 May 2022).

Covid-19 Guidance for Churches, issued by the Bishops’ Conference on 24 January 2022 and updated on 28 January 2022.§

Other guidance for faith bodies

Similarly, the advice for England from such as the RSCM and CCCBR is unchanged from January 2022. The CCCBR guidance for Wales has been updated in relation to the wearing of face coverings, and the Bishops’ Conference January Guidance includes a link to government guidance on future changes in Wales from 28 March and 18 April.§

Church in Scotland advice Moving forward as a congregation was last updated on 2 May 2022; the Coronavirus updates and resources of the Scottish Episcopal Church were updated on 1 April 2022.§

On 5 August 2022, the Episcopal News Service published COVID-19 at Lambeth: Few precautions, but also few cases – so far in which it compared the Lambeth Conference and General Convention in Baltimore in July, the precautions in place and the adherence to them. The header photo was captioned “[a]s of Aug. 5, 43 positive COVID-19 cases have been reported at Lambeth Conference. Although wearing a mask is optional, in recent days attendees have been wearing them”. An unscientific comparison with ONS figures would suggested that using the attendance figures quoted – about 1,200 attendees each event – at 1 in 28, Lambeth was little different from the ONS figures for England – quelle surprise!

Law and Religion UK

• Law and religion round-up – 1 May. COVID-19 Updates. Reference to Cytûn’s new document, supra.§
• Law and religion round-up – 8th May. No COVID-19 updates.§
• Law and religion round-up – 15th May. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference and online worship; and Lockdown restrictions in Switzerland.§
• UK COVID-19 Inquiry: terms of reference consultation outcome. Baroness Hallett, who was appointed Chair of the UK COVID-19 Inquiry in December 2021, has published her Terms of Reference Consultation Summary Report on the responses to her consultation and her conclusions on those responses. (18 May 2022).§
• Law and religion round-up – 22nd May. “Partygate”;COVID-19: legislation and guidance update.22 May 2022.§
• Sue Gray’s report on “Partygate” published. 25 May 2022.§
• Law and religion round-up – 29th May. No COVID-19 updates.§
• UK COVID-19 Inquiry: terms of reference. On Tuesday 28 June 2022, the terms of reference for the UK COVID-19 Inquiry were published by the Cabinet Office. (28 June 2022).§
• COVID-19 update. The final Terms of Reference for the UK COVID-19 Inquiry were published on Tuesday. The latest ONS data for the week ending 24 June 2022 reported that “[t]he percentage of people testing positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) continued to increase across the UK, likely caused by increases in infections compatible with Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5”. In England and Wales, the estimated number of people testing positive for COVID-19  equated to around 1 in 30 people; 1 in 25 people in Northern Ireland; and 1 in 18 people in Scotland. (3 July 2022).§
• Analysis of changes to COVID-19 legislation in England. On 13 July 2022, the Department of Health and Social Care issued The Health Transparency Data – Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Steps etc.) (England) (Revocation and Amendment) Regulations 2021: equality analysis.. These documents record the equality analysis undertaken for the decision to move England into step 4 (14 July 2022).§
• Updated COVID-19 advice from CofE. On 18 July 2022, the Church of England issued “COVID-19 Opening and managing church buildings“, now at version 3.2. This is an update of the previous guidance (3 May 2022) to include revised situation report and changes in government guidance on risk assessments. (21 July 2022).§
• Updated COVID-19 advice from CofE: further comments. An extended version of the previous day’s post, supra (22 July 2022).§
• Margaret Ferrier MP and COVID-19, (21 August 2022).§
• COVID-19 update, {21 August 2022).§
• Religious objections to COVID vaccine: Wierowska, (13 September 2022).§

Post last updated,  13 September 2022 at  08:58.

* Information on COVID-19 on L&RUK

These updates are not reissued, but new items are added as they become available, providing a “rolling update” of the latest developments; they are also added to COVID-19 Coronavirus: legislation and guidance which is  the main source of  information, and listed with the newest items last (unlike the CofE documents, infra); items in the monthly updates yet to be added are marked “§“.  Earlier updates are here.

‡ Church of England documents

Church of England documents are listed under their full title and issue number, in the same order as they appear on the Church’s web site.

[top of page]