In this time of crisis, governments have been able to use their emergency powers to put in place restrictions and measures. When the virus first broke out this seemed like the logical thing to do.
As countries now begin to move onto the next phase out of their lockdown, some of their powers have come under intense scrutiny from civilians. Public figures have come out and compared the lockdown to “being under house arrest”. However, with the UK having more relaxed restrictions in comparison to other European countries, such as Spain and Italy, citizens were granted more freedom even during the peak of the virus.
Debates surrounding governmental powers and civil liberties are now becoming even more prominent in some of the most democratic countries. Some of the restrictions and policies that are being proposed are likely to ignite these debates even further. Nevertheless, if the measures are successful they can provide a quicker pathway for the UK to exit the current pandemic. Top UK health officials have since warned that lifting some of the lockdown measures may lead to an increase in the transmission rate.
Lockdown
As the coronavirus continues to spread across the globe, billions of people remain under some form of stay-at-home orders. In other words, lockdown. The UK’s Justice Secretary, Robert Buckland has said that the “very nature of the measures” means that they threaten to harm civil liberties in the longer term.
Some of these measures include shutting down non-essential businesses and encouraging people to work from home. Consequently, UK unemployment rose to nearly 2.1 million in April. It is here that the issues with reopening the economy begin to arise, as workers feel as though they have had their right to work taken away from during lockdown. On the other hand, it could still be seen as unethical for the government to force people to go back to work when they are at risk of catching this deadly virus, without providing any safety measures or reassurances to workers and businesses alike
However, there has been a rise in protests against some of the government's measures. The UK Freedom Movement has called for mass protests against what they call this “unlawful lockdown”. One of their largest anti-lockdown gatherings took place in Hyde Park on the 16th May.
These protesters have argued that they are simply exercising their right to freedom of speech and expression. In spite of that, their actions went against the restrictions which the government had put in place at the time.
Since those protests took place in Hyde Park, public figures such as Lord Sumption have come out and said that the virus is merely an “individual risk”. Whilst the essence of this is true, the societal risk is far greater, as there are hundreds of thousands of people who are critically vulnerable to the disease. Hence why the UK and hundreds of other countries still have some form of restrictions in place.
We may see regional lockdowns becoming a part of our future. Whilst there are arguments about how this may inhibit individual freedoms (at least of movement) in different parts of the country, regional lockdowns would act as a way to slowly reopen the economy in some countries, and prevent future national shutdowns.
Contact Tracing
The UK government have been exploring the idea of introducing contact tracing apps to contain the spread of the virus.
These apps are designed to inform people if they have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 so that they can self-isolate.
Questions still need to be answered regarding how long a system like this would need to be in place for in order for it to be deemed effective. When it comes to COVID-19 scientists are predicting many different scenarios. England’s deputy chief medical officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam noted that “We may have to live, and learn to live, with this virus in the long-term.” If this is the case then we could potentially see some form of trace and tracking system in place for a significant amount of time.
Despite this, I think it is important to remember the contact tracing apps currently in use are voluntary. At this point in time, the UK government has not put in place any measures that would legally require their citizens to install the app, and it is hard to imagine this position changing.
Opponents argue that the government are forcing these ‘surveillance tools’ onto their citizens. Nonetheless, this would only really be applicable if the government were to make it mandatory to download the app, people still reserve the right not to download the app.
In the short-term, this could be one of the most crucial ways out of lockdown and has the potential to save many lives. If the government are able to spot cases and outbreaks of the virus then they can be more strategic with where to put in place lockdown restrictions. Not only that, but this would also be key to relaxing some of the social distancing measures currently in place.
A contact tracing system would lead to a scenario where there is isolation for a few people, rather than a lockdown for everyone.
Countries all around the world have begun moving out of lockdown and are starting to ease restrictions. In the case of the UK, this may be happening too quickly, as the rate of infection and case numbers are still fairly high.
With that in mind, if there is a second peak and a rise in cases then it may be a while before we start to enjoy our civil liberties in the same way we did before the virus broke out.
Nevertheless, what is becoming more evident as we progress through this pandemic is that defeating the virus may come at the expense of some of our freedoms.
