Bill Text: NJ S2957 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes crime for failing to disclose infection from virus associated with Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, or related viral strain in subsequent years, when contacting first responders to request medical care or other assistance.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-09-24 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee [S2957 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-S2957-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator JOSEPH P. CRYAN
District 20 (Union)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes crime for failing to disclose infection from virus associated with Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, or related viral strain in subsequent years, when contacting first responders to request medical care or other assistance.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act establishing a crime for failing to disclose infection from the virus associated with the Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, or related viral strain to that virus in subsequent years, when contacting first responders to request medical care or other assistance, and supplementing chapter 34 of Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. A person is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree if, at the time that the person is requesting medical care or other assistance from any first responder, whether by calling a 9-1-1 emergency telephone system, or otherwise communicating through that or another dispatch service, or communicating directly with a first responder, the person knowingly fails to disclose that the person, or another person for whom the medical care or other assistance is requested, is currently diagnosed as being infected with the virus SARS-CoV-2 or the disease caused by the virus, Coronavirus disease 2019, also referred to as COVID-19, or currently diagnosed as being infected with a related viral strain to that virus or a disease caused by the related viral strain in subsequent years.
As used in this section, "first responder" means a law enforcement officer, paid or volunteer firefighter, paid or volunteer member of a duly incorporated first aid, emergency, ambulance, or rescue squad association, or any other individual who, in the course of the individual's employment, is dispatched to the scene of a motor vehicle accident or other emergency situation for the purpose of providing medical care or other assistance.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would create a new crime for knowingly failing to disclose being currently diagnosed as infected with the virus SARS-CoV-2 or the disease caused by the virus, Coronavirus disease 2019, also referred to as COVID-19, or currently diagnosed as being infected with a related viral strain to that virus or a disease caused by the related viral strain in subsequent years, when contacting a dispatch service or any first responder directly to request medical care or other assistance from a first responder. The bill defines a first responder as "a law enforcement officer, paid or volunteer firefighter, paid or volunteer member of a duly incorporated first aid, emergency, ambulance, or rescue squad association, or any other individual who, in the course of the individual's employment, is dispatched to the scene of a motor vehicle accident or other emergency situation for the purpose of providing medical care or other assistance." The same definition is used in other criminal statutes. See, e.g., P.L.2017, c.315, s.2 (C.2C:40-28).
The failure to disclose the diagnosis when requesting first responder assistance would be graded a crime of the fourth degree, making the crime punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to 18 months, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.
