Performative Pandemic Panic
Officials’ cynical manipulation of the public damaged their own credibility as well as the world at large.
Quarantine
How Britain Lost the Lockdown Battle
Even though COVID-19 spread is low, Brits love their lockdown.
Is Sweden's COVID-19 Policy 'Relatively Rational' or 'Calamitous'?
If the goal is minimizing the death toll over the long run, it is too soon to say.
In Michigan, the Wrong Way To Govern During a Pandemic
As federal guidelines suggested classifying more industries as "essential" so that they could reopen, Gov. Whitmer arbitrarily did the opposite.
Kentucky Couple Reportedly Placed Under House Arrest After Failing To Sign COVID-19 Quarantine Notice
Elizabeth Linscott, who tested positive for COVID-19, says she objected to the wording of the health department's isolation orders.
Did COVID-19 Lockdowns Reach Back in Time to Affect Behavior Before They Were Imposed?
Trends in Massachusetts highlight the importance of voluntary changes in behavior.
Were COVID-19 Lockdowns Worth the Cost?
The evidence suggests Americans are right to wonder.
What Do Recent COVID-19 Trends Tell Us About the Merits of Lockdowns?
New infections are down nationwide but rising in some places as people rebel against government-recommended precautions.
Another Round of Coronavirus Lockdowns Might Be Coming. They'll Be Far Less Enforceable Than Before.
Plus: Albuquerque police will no longer respond to some 911 calls, the Federal Reserve creates a perverse incentive for corporations to borrow more heavily, and more...
Another Judge Rules That Ohio's COVID-19 Lockdown Is Illegal
The decision says the "unbridled and unfettered consolidation of authority in one unelected official" violates due process and the separation of powers.
When Should Force Be Used To Protect Public Health?
Since meager testing resources left officials ignorant of crucial facts about the epidemic, they made policy decisions without the evidence necessary to assess their proportionality.
Alone Together in the Pandemic
How we lost our social spaces and how we found them again
Lockdown Supporters Embraced Wildly Wrong COVID-19 Projections That Fit Their Preconceptions
The episode illustrates the perils of confirmation bias on both sides of the debate about disease control measures.
Virus Transmission Estimates Provide More Evidence That COVID-19 Lockdowns Are Overrated
Two models suggest that broad restrictions had less impact on the epidemic than commonly thought.
John Roberts Does Not Think California's Special Restrictions on Religious Services Discriminate Against Churches
As SCOTUS declines to issue an injunction, the chief justice says the state's COVID-19 control measures seem consistent with the First Amendment.
As Lockdowns Are Lifted, Is the COVID-19 Reproductive Number Rising or Falling?
Two models generate strikingly different estimates.
Do Pandemic-Inspired Bans on Religious Services Violate the First Amendment? Circuit Courts Are Split.
Supreme Court precedent suggests COVID-19 restrictions that discriminate against churches are presumptively unconstitutional.
A Middle Course Between COVID-19 Hopes and Fears
Control measures should be based on emerging evidence about the danger posed by the virus.
The CDC's New 'Best Estimate' Implies a COVID-19 Infection Fatality Rate Below 0.3%
That rate is much lower than the numbers used in the horrifying projections that shaped the government response to the epidemic.
How Much Credit Should Lockdowns Get for Reducing COVID-19 Transmission?
All of it, The New York Times assumes.
Ohio Judge Deems the State's COVID-19 Lockdown 'Arbitrary, Unreasonable, and Oppressive'
The ruling says the state's top health official exceeded her statutory authority by ordering "nonessential" businesses to close.
A Pandemic Does Not Suspend the Rule of Law
Courts are beginning to recognize that public health powers, while broad, are not a blank check.
Americans Are Isolating Themselves Less, but That Doesn't Mean They Are Abandoning COVID-19 Precautions
Sensible social distancing does not require staying in your house.
Wisconsin Supreme Court Says the State's COVID-19 Lockdown Violated the Rule of Law and the Separation of Powers
A seemingly arcane dispute about administrative law has profound implications for the limits of public health authority.
Lockdown Lawsuits Ask How Long a Public Health Emergency Can Last
An Illinois resident obtained a TRO by citing a 30-day limit, while a New Hampshire hair salon owner says the goal of her state's lockdown has been achieved.
New CRISPR Coronavirus Test Could Be a Pandemic 'Game-Changer'
Cheap accurate testing would enable the safe reopening of the U.S. economy.
When Businesses Die, Bringing Back Their Services Won't Always Be Possible
Event production is one of the less visible victims of the virus. Recreating their services when such companies die won't be easy.
COVID-19 'Immunity Passports' Could Be a Good Idea
Why not let recovered coronavirus patients out of lockdown?
Larry David Says People Who Object to COVID-19 Lockdowns Are 'Idiots'
Government-mandated unemployment is "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" to "sit on the couch and watch TV," says the wealthy star of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
The Trump Administration Presents a False Choice Between Current COVID-19 Control Measures and 'No Intervention'
The real action in the coming months lies between those two extremes.
No, British Epidemiologist Neil Ferguson Has Not 'Drastically Downgraded' His Worst-Case Projection of COVID-19 Deaths
But he has raised his estimate of the virus's reproduction number, which implies a lower fatality rate than his research group initially assumed.
Do Gun Dealers Count As 'Essential' Businesses That Can Stay Open Under COVID-19 Lockdowns?
Or is the Second Amendment suspended for the duration of the epidemic?
Only Social Darwinians Worry About the Harm Caused by COVID-19 Lockdowns, Andrew Cuomo Says
The point of shutting down the "nonessential" economy, New York's governor explains, is to "save lives, period, whatever it costs."
'We're All in Quarantine Now,' Says Andrew Cuomo, Who Two Days Ago Said That Was Out of the Question
New York's governor insists his edict "mandating that 100% of the workforce must stay home" is "not a shelter-in-place order."
Gavin Newsom Orders 40 Million Californians To Stay Home During Coronavirus Crisis. Is He Right To Do It?
The spread of COVID-19 is making once unthinkably extreme policies seem like the least bad option.
Would Italian-Style Lockdowns to Curtail the Spread of Coronavirus Pass Legal Muster in the U.S.?
The extent of state and federal quarantine powers is surprisingly unsettled.
Nearly 2,800 People Quarantined in New York City To Prevent Spread of Coronavirus
Plus: Man jailed for licking ice cream that wasn't his, decriminalizing polygamy in Utah, and more...
Are Quarantines a Proportionate Response to the Coronavirus?
While the use of force can be justified to curtail the spread of communicable diseases, the threat has to be weighed against the burdens on potential carriers.
Ebola Panic Control
A nurse's successful quarantine challenge is a victory for reason and due process.
Ebola Emergencies and Questionable Quarantines
Crying "disease" does not justify forcible isolation of asymptomatic health care workers.