At the beginning of this year, the rapid spread of the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) prompted most countries to enter a period of lockdown. In Italy – the country where I live – the restrictions are now starting to loosen, and I have started to ask myself: did the confinement measures adopted during the Coronavirus outbreak really deny freedoms for individuals?
Compared with other European countries, Italy adopted the most aggressive policies. For months, people were not allowed to take a walk outside, or to spend time with friends and relatives. Basically, they could leave their apartments only for their own personal sustenance: they could only go to the grocery store, to the hospital and, in some cases, to work. Food, health and money: this is the modern paradigm of sustenance.
Criticisms of the “Chinese solution” adopted by Italy – which was then followed by other countries in Europe – have come from both sides, national and international. Indeed, as comments by Professor Martin J. Bull from the London School of Economics make clear, the main concern was that the lockdown had denied citizens “even the right to fresh air” and went against “the principles of personal liberty and freedom of movement enshrined in the Constitution”. However, as also highlighted in the same blog post, the very Italian constitution allows limitations to freedom in case of emergencies (art. 16).
