In the spring of 2020, civilization briefly came to a near standstill as the world watched and anticipated, with trepidation, the potential catastrophe that might unfold from the viral outbreak now known as COVID-19. During this time, governments around the globe instituted unprecedented policy changes meant to slow the spread of the disease. Given the rapid onset of the contagion and the extreme medical and epidemiological uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, direct pharmaceutical interventions were limited. Early responses, instead, were “non-pharmaceutical” (Perra,
2021). They included event cancellations, school closures, shelter-in place orders, travel bans, remote work, curfews, and limitations on social gatherings. While some of the policies were fostered exclusively through private, voluntary institutions, many were sponsored or directly enforced by coercive, political means. The unprecedented use of state intervention in response to infectious disease provoked a host of questions concerning the role of the state and the political economy of public health. …
