That means directing testing and health equipment toward vulnerable communities – as identified by COVID-19 tracking data and risk factors like housing density and poverty – and ensuring free, widespread vaccine distribution when it becomes available. Justice-oriented policies would aim for equitable balancing of necessary pandemic resources. The evidence clearly shows that communities of color, low-income populations, people in nursing homes and those on the margins of society, such as homeless people and undocumented immigrants, are hardest hit. Justice-oriented policies are necessary for a moral reopening because of the pandemic’s disproportionate health and economic impacts. Justice focuses on the fair distribution of resources and the social structures that enable what the Dutch philosopher Patrick Loobuyck has called a “ condition of equality.” Islam Dogru/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images 3. Anthony Fauci to New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern – have relied primarily on moral persuasion, not threats of punishment.īy delivering clear information, giving simple and repeated behavioral guidance, and setting a good example, they’ve helped convince millions to take personal responsibility for protecting their community.įace masks signal that wearers care about protecting others around them. National Institutes of Health director Dr. To achieve these acts of solidarity, the leaders most praised in their countries and abroad – from U.S.
A new study found that 80% of Americans nationwide support staying home and social distancing and 74% support using face coverings in public. While compliance in the United States has not been universal, data indicate broad approval for these measures. Public health measures like stay-at-home orders, social distancing and wearing masks reflect solidarity. As United Nations officials have emphasized, “ we are all in this together.” Such shared emergencies require solidarity, which recognizes both the inherent dignity of each individual person and the interdependence of all people. In a global pandemic, the actions people do or don’t take affect the health of others worldwide. That includes addressing new forms of suffering that arise as circumstances change. Some pandemic-era policies also reflect compassion, such as regulations preventing evictions and expanding unemployment benefits and giving food aid to poor familes.Ī compassion-guided reopening aimed at preventing or reducing human suffering would require governments to continually monitor and alleviate the pain of their people. We propose three core virtues to guide policymakers in easing out of coronavirus crisis mode in ways that achieve a better new normal: compassion, solidarity and justice.Ĭompassion and solidarity on display at New York’s Elmhurst Hospital, during the April peak of the city’s coronavirus outbreak. Because of their broad, longstanding relevance to human societies, these values tend to be held across cultures. While often embedded in religion, virtues are ultimately a secular concept. Examples include generosity, compassion, honesty, solidarity, fortitude, justice and patience. Virtues are applied morals – actions that promote individual and collective well-being. Our ethics research examines the potential for using virtues as a guide for a more moral coronavirus response. From the United States to Brazil and the United Kingdom, low-wage workers are suffering more than others and communities of color are most vulnerable to the virus.ĭespite the disparities, countries are reopening without a plan to redress these unequal harms and protect the broader community going forward. The health and economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic are not equally felt.