The article analyzes social policies implemented by the European Union member states during the initial period of the coronavirus pandemic. Despite the fact that the whole region faced the same universal threat, the supranational level of decision-making and implementation was practically paralyzed in the European Union at this period. Each member state of the EU had to transform social policies in an attempt to combat spread of the pandemic and mitigate its consequences. Nevertheless, exclusions of essential civil and human rights made to strengthen anti-COVID measures turned out to be major fault lines in the relationship between society and governments.It became evident that the main attention of the state authorities was paid to measures in the field of social (physical) distancing, restrictions in the activities of educational establishments, ensuring access to health services, providing assistance to socially vulnerable groups of the population, including the elderly, the disabled, and the homeless. The authors explore different approaches implemented throughout EU to tackle social and medicalissues created by coronavirus.The main obstacles such as lack of essential resources, including the necessary medical equipment and their causes are highlighted. It is concluded that the European Union member states have not found an optimal response in the social field when they confronted the challenge of the coronavirus pandemic.

The article is devoted to the analysis of key social and economic problems in the EU countries during the initial period of the pandemic. Forced isolation amid the spread of the coronavirus contributed to the growth of domestic and domestic violence, manifestations of racism and xenophobia in the EU. Social discrimination manifested itself in the restriction of access to goods and services for people with Asian appearance. A negative factor was the statements of certain right-wing politicians, as well as a number of media outlets. The member states of the European Union sought to carry out proactive communication with the population of their countries, convincing the latter to use exclusively official information about the situation with the COVID 19 virus and taking steps to ensure the widespread presence of the opinion of the governance in the media and on the Internet. Due to the extraordinary circumstances, EU member states have resumed controls at their internal borders in an effort to ensure the safety of their citizens. Despite assurances from the European Commission that the restrictions would not affect the interests of the EU population and third-country nationals, in March 2020, tangible obstacles arose in the way of realizing the fundamental right to free movement. The first steps were taken to support the sectors of the economy and the employment market in the initial phase of the pandemic. Particular attention was paid to the state of affairs in the most vulnerable service sector. The employment market experienced serious shocks, which was reflected in the growth of unemployment in the EU countries. The measures taken by the authorities of the member states, in general, met the interests of workers, but encountered difficulties in the course of implementation.

This article examines an underexplored episode in the history of the cholera riots – the ‘hunt for the poisoners’ which happened in St Petersburg in June 1831. This relevance of the topic is determined by the importance of studying the population’s behavior during an epidemic crisis, challenging both the authorities’ ability to stabilize the situation and the possibility of dialogue between them and society. Based on newly-introduced archival sources, the paper attempts to reconstruct the events of June 24–25, 1831 – essential for an understanding of the subsequent developments in Russia, but which have been overshadowed by the cholera riots of June 21–22, 1831, well described by contemporary sources. The cholera outbreak in the imperial capital in mid-June 1831 sparked popular discontent with anti-cholera measures, culminating in attacks on the city’s cholera hospitals. After a temporary respite following the events of June 22 on Sennaya Square, the riots erupted with renewed vigor but with a change in form and substance. On June 24 and 25, instead of attacking hospitals in large crowds, the rioters sought out alleged ‘poisoners’ detaining and handing them over to the authorities on suspicion of having poisoned food and water. Amongst part of the population, this poisoning was considered the real cause of the deaths attributed by doctors and the authorities to cholera. These events of June 24–25 have received little attention from researchers. But it was the St Petersburg ‘hunt for poisoners’ that provided a model for Russia’s ‘cholera panic’ of July 1831, during which the population sought to battle the alleged malicious poisoners. The panic caused a series of mass riots in the European part of Russia. The most violent events during the unrest were the bloody mutinies of military settlers in Novgorod province. The events of June 24–25 in St Petersburg played a significant role in the emergence of the cholera panic in Russia in the summer of 1831.

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