Essay on Corona Pandemic: To What Extent May the Fundamental Rights of People Be Restricted? Introduction

Currently, numerous measures established to control the spread of coronavirus entail the restriction of fundamental human rights. The pandemic has affected the daily lives of individuals in many states in the European Union. Due to the current situation of uncertainty, many governments have drafted measures aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19. Some such measures justify the restraint of human rights including freedom of assembly and movement. Border controls, school closures, and lockdown are various measures undertaken by most countries globally to halt the spread of COVID-19. Today, millions have been infected by the virus, and the WHO has not developed a cure yet. This implies the future of the virus is unknown, and authorities may continue infringing fundamental basic rights like freedom to religion, and right to health for millions of people to face the present public health emergency[1]. Such rights may not be accessible to individuals for an unforeseen period due to the uncertainty of the virus, as many health experts advise people to continue staying at home and observe social distancing. As a result, governments will continue infringing fundamental human rights until such time the cure for the virus is found, or upon the exit of the pandemic from the global population.

1.1. Problem Statement

The global coronavirus pandemic is no joke and has presented challenges to many countries in efforts to control the spread. Thousands of people have died from the virus calling for stiff measures to mitigate the problem. Such challenges have forced authorities to restrict fundamental human rights, a measure that to some extent, has controlled the spread of the virus. However, most individuals seem to be tired of the infringement as people continue to defy government restriction. For instance, for multiple days, the Americans have been demonstrating against racism in their campaign Black Lives Matters, which saw most people resisting social distancing. Also, other countries have resumed flights operations both locally and internationally. Thus, this defiance has been problematic to authorities as they strive to fight COVID-19, which shows no signs of a cure yet.

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1.2. Research Questions and Objective

The restriction of fundamental human rights like freedom to movement, assembly, and rights to religion has been effective in fighting coronavirus pandemic. Most authorities took measures as the virus spread escalated in March to June, killing thousands of people. When crises arise, international human rights law permits various human rights to be restricted. EU member states developed protective measures relating to fundamental rights consideration to shield the public health. This paper will address various research questions like; how has coronavirus pandemic impacted fundamental rights? To what extent might fundamental rights of individuals be restricted? The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of coronavirus pandemic on fundamental human rights.

2. Coronavirus pandemic outlook

2.1. Impacts on people’s lives

The COVID-19 pandemic has come as a global shock spreading at an alarming speed. Millions of people have been infected, and thousands died. The pandemic has resulted in economy shrinkage that has adversely affected people’s normal lives. Many have lost jobs, and others closed their businesses in efforts to observe government regulations. Many countries have closed schools and places of worship as they strive to observe social distancing measures. Furthermore, lockdowns have been imposed restricting the movement of people. Severe places of infection have been locked down as we saw in Italy. Many experts have advised individuals to stay at home or wear face masks when in public places to protect oneself from infections. Due to such restrictions, people’s lives have significantly changed as most hope for their authorities to open up the country[2]. However, the escalating cases in June and rising cases of deaths force many countries to continue imposing the restriction, mostly relating to the fundamental rights of people. Therefore, people may not likely resume their usual way of life, for instance, movement from one country to another, going to places of worship or attending schools or colleges. Al