Dina Drogin ‘23, Commentary Writer

With the rise of coronavirus, governments around the world have created limitations to civilians’ lives to restrict the spread of the virus and benefit the public. While there are advantages to regulations, how many new rules should the government enact before their attempts to limit the virus are an infringement of personal freedom? 

In January 2020, 3,700 people boarded a Diamond Princess Cruise ship in Yokohama, near Japan, hoping to travel throughout Asia. Within a week of the departure, the cruise ship was forced to dock outside of Japan because a case of the coronavirus was confirmed in a passenger from Hong Kong. The Japanese government enforced a mandatory, two-week quarantine process. This included confinement to cabin rooms while the ship was on mandatory lockdown. Room service was provided daily; however, the time of delivery fluctuated. People were randomly forced to be tested, which involved filling machines with saliva and mucus samples; the results were shared with health officials and the Japanese government. Each time a new person was diagnosed with the virus, the quarantine process restarted, creating an uncomfortable living environment. China faces the most restrictions of any country. Since February 19th, more than half of China’s population has been in lockdown, urged to stay in houses except to buy necessities. People are struggling to work, causing major interruptions in the world’s second-largest economy. Soon, the US government will be forced to put limitations on US citizens’ everyday lives. Health officials are starting to use a nationwide surveillance network used to track the flu in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle. Is this fair? 

Yes. People exposed to coronavirus are a threat to public health. People on the Diamond Princess cruise ship have been released from the quarantine, and passengers from another ship in Cambodia have been released as well. However, shortly after the release, health officials were notified that there was a passenger on the ship in Cambodia with coronavirus. Therefore, all other passengers are under threat of being infected as well. It is important to restrict personal freedom and take precautionary measures to avoid incidents like the one in Cambodia. Health officials are now scrambling to find all passengers before anyone else is infected. 

While it is fair to restrict some personal liberties to limit the spread of pandemic viruses, there are lines that should not be crossed. In areas of China, people are forced to take their temperature and submit it to the government, which keeps track of every person in the area. If they fail to submit their results or if their temperature is above normal, health officials will forcibly remove them from their house and put them into a mandatory quarantine process. This is not fair. If a person’s temperature is above normal, there should be further screening for the coronavirus. Surrounding a person, who could just have a common fever, with infected people is completely contradictory to the goal of quarantine. Personal freedoms should not be completely disregarded. However, if restrictions will help the public good, the government should have the right to restrict personal freedom.