Luxembourg has introduced new public safety measures in an Act of 17 July 2020 (the ‘Act’, for full details see below). The Act provides that the main provisions set out below now apply from 17 July 2020 to 30 September 2020 inclusive.

Mask wearing

Any gathering of people that simultaneously brings together more than 20 people is now subject to the following conditions:

• Individuals must be assigned seats, observing a minimum distance of two metres;
• If the distance of two metres between seats cannot be respected, it is mandatory to wear a mask.
• Masks must also be worn at all times by supervising staff and by participants when not seated.

However, these obligations do not apply to participants in religious, cultural and sporting activities in the exercise of these activities, or to individuals participating in school and extra-curricular activities.

The Act also provides for the following exceptions:

• The obligation to provide assigned seating does not apply to the exercise of individuals’ freedom to demonstrate, to funerals, or to fairs, markets and salons where the public circulates.
• The obligation to keep a physical distance and to wear a mask does not apply to minors aged under six or to individuals who are members of the same household or who cohabit.

The wearing of masks remains compulsory on public transport and for activities that are open to the public and that take place in enclosed spaces. This obligation does not apply to minors under six years or to individuals with disabilities in the circumstances described by the Act.

Restrictions on certain economic activities

Restaurants, bars, dining rooms in hotels and other accommodation, consumer lounges, canteens, and any other establishment that occasionally serves meals remain subject to compliance with the legal obligations that applied prior to the publication of the Act concerning the maximum number of people, physical distance, the allocation of seats and the wearing of masks, both inside these establishments and on terraces.

The Act also now specifies that in the establishments referred to above, consumption seated at a table is compulsory for the customer. Take-away, drive-through and home delivery services are excluded from this obligation.

Fast-track recruitment of health professionals for crisis management

The Act also establishes a fast-track recruitment procedure under which individuals working in either a medical or health care profession may be hired on a fixed-term basis as government employees in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic by simply producing a copy of their professional licence. (The Act refers here to individuals who have a licence to practise issued on the basis of the amended Act of 29 April 1983 on the exercise of the professions of doctor, dental practitioner and veterinary surgeon or the amended Act of 26 March 1992 on the exercise and upgrading of certain health professions.)

These individuals may be assigned to a hospital establishment, an accommodation structure or a care network in Luxembourg. In this case, they will be subject to the internal organisational rules applicable there.

Note: Article 6 of the Act provides that the conditions set out in Article 3(1) of the amended Act of 25 March 2015 determining the regime and allowances of state employees for admission to state services do not apply to this procedure.

Legislative details

The Act is the Act of 17 July 2020 introducing a series of measures to combat the Covid-19 pandemic and amending:

• the amended Act of 25 November 1975 concerning the supply of medicines to the public;
• the amended Act of 11 April 1983 regulating the marketing and advertising of medicines (hereinafter the “Act”)

It was published in Mémorial A n°624 of 17 July 2020.

The Act repeals the two Laws of 24 June 2020 which entered into force the day after the end of the state of crisis for a temporary period of one month (Law of 24 June 2020 introducing a series of measures concerning natural persons in the context of the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and amending the amended Law of 11 April 1983 regulating the marketing and advertising of medicinal products; Law of 24 June 2020 introducing a series of measures concerning sporting and cultural activities and establishments open to the public, in the context of the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic).