COVID-19, Public Health Law, and the Right to Assemble

As someone with libertarian leanings but also an interest in public health, it can be difficult to explain how the government has the right to restrict the movement and right to assembly of many people. First we have to look at Public Health Law in America, I'll hand this off to D. James Stone, from the Legal Eagle YouTube channel and an actual attorney, to explain the basics of Public Health Law in the US.


As he explains, US Public Health laws allow the federal government to quarantine and/or isolate certain individuals suspected of being exposed, or actually being infected by a certain disease, including COVID-19. As he explains, US Public Health law is very powerful. He also mentions a few lawsuits over such laws and actions, especially one based on race.

Moving on to the main point, as I previous mentioned, I am someone with libertarian leanings so I have to explain how the government has the right to restrict the freedom of movement and freedom of assembly due to public health risks. While I do have the right to assemble, I personally think that if I assemble and I knowingly have a contagious disease and I infect someone else that I am infringing on someone else's right. Therefore, the government does have the right to restrict my movement and others' movement to prevent the spread of disease.

However, I do not believe that COVID-19 is deadly, nor does it have a secondary attack rate high enough to warrant extended lockdowns of the general public. In NC, over 60% of deaths have occurred in nursing homes and assisted living facilities [1]. Additionally, the secondary attack rate (basically the chance you have of contracting COVID-19 if you are exposed to a contagious person) in the US was only 0.45% for close contacts and 10.5% for those living in the same household. Although, there were cases of superspreaders with a SAR of over 50%, such as at a choir practice[2]. In my opinion, the strict lockdown and social distancing procedures should be required for those working with high-risk populations, such as those that work at nursing homes, while more lax requirements should be in place for the general public. It is up to to the government to ensure the safety of the people, whether

PS: Quarantine and isolation are words thrown out a lot during this pandemic and I think health communications specialist need to let people know the difference, so I'll explain here. Quarantine comes from the Italian word quaranta, meaning forty, as ports in Medieval Europe would require ships from Plague-infected areas to stay on the ship for 30-40 days to make sure they would not be infected[3]. This leads us to the modern definition of quarantine, the restriction of movement of those that potentially have a contagious illness or have been exposed to the illness. On the other hand, isolation is the restriction of movement of those that are actually infected with a contagious illness.

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