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. 2020 Aug;111(4):459-461.
doi: 10.17269/s41997-020-00354-x. Epub 2020 Jul 8.

Social distancing, social justice, and risk during the COVID-19 pandemic

Diego S Silva  1   2 , Maxwell J Smith  3
Affiliations

Social distancing, social justice, and risk during the COVID-19 pandemic

Diego S Silva et al. Can J Public Health. 2020 Aug.

Abstract
in English, French

Social distancing is an important and necessary measure to help arrest the spread of SARS-CoV-2 during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it does place persons who are socially or politically marginalized, including those who are of lower socio-economic status, at risk of further harms. In other words, marginalized or disadvantaged persons are at risk of both contracting SARS-CoV-2 and the risk of harms that may come about because of the social distancing measures themselves. Finally, a third layer of risk faced by marginalized persons would be the overuse of utility (i.e., maximize the benefit of resource x) as the primary ethics principle upon which to make allocation decisions, since oftentimes it is resource-intensive to help those in positions of social marginality. This three-fold risk of harm to which marginalized persons are subjected runs counter to the very notion of social justice that underpins public health. Social distancing in a socially just manner requires dialoguing with affected populations and providing social supports to marginalized persons, regardless of the associated costs.

La distanciation sociale est importante et nécessaire pour endiguer la propagation du SRAS-Cov-2 durant la pandémie de COVID-19. Elle expose toutefois les personnes socialement ou politiquement marginalisées, dont les personnes de faible statut socioéconomique, à des préjudices supplémentaires. Autrement dit, les personnes marginalisées ou défavorisées sont vulnérables au SRAS-Cov-2 et aux préjudices qui peuvent se manifester en raison des mesures de distanciation sociale. Enfin, les personnes marginalisées sont exposées à un troisième niveau de risque : la surutilisation du principe d’utilité (c.-à-d. maximiser les avantages de la ressource x) dans la prise des décisions d’allocation des ressources, car il faut souvent beaucoup de ressources pour aider les personnes en marge de la société. Ce triple risque de préjudice auquel sont exposées les personnes marginalisées va à l’encontre de la notion même de justice sociale, qui est la pierre d’assise de la santé publique. Pour être socialement juste, la distanciation sociale nécessite un dialogue avec les populations touchées et l’offre de soutiens sociaux aux personnes marginalisées, indépendamment des coûts associés.

Keywords: Bioethics; Coronavirus; Ethics; Health policy; Infectious diseases.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

References

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