COVID-19 — Human (In)Security Issue

Abstract

The objective of this review is to provide an overview of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on human security. By an analysis of the literature, it has been estimated that the pandemic had a direct impact on the health dimension of human security, leading to a high rate of mortality and morbidity. On the other hand, measures undertaken at global and national level, such as lockdowns and curfews, have led to tectonic disruptions in the economy, job losses, the access to food and health care, as well as an increased rate of violence and human rights derogations. Threats to human security within one dimension and the consequences caused by them spill over into others, thus creating a vicious circle of threats to basic freedoms -from want, from fear and to live in dignity, as well as decline in the process of achieving sustainable development goals. Taking into account that pandemics of infectious diseases are a constant of human civilization, it has been concluded that in the future, states would have to find a balance between the measures undertaken to fight infectious diseases, on the one hand, and the welfare of ordinary people, on the other hand.