header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us
27 October 2020 / Athelstane Aamodt
Issue: 7908 / Categories: Features , Covid-19 , Profession
printer mail-detail

Managing a pandemic: Back to the future?

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.
30358
In the light of the coronavirus outbreak, Athelstane Aamodt analyses the approach to managing pandemics across the centuries

We are all living with the interruptions to normal life that have resulted from the government’s response to coronavirus. The Coronavirus Act 2020 and its 29 schedules, not to mention the secondary legislation that has been passed under its aegis, is the legal framework that governs how much of the country will function in the interim.

All of this begs the question: how were such things handled in the past? How, before the existence of an international body like the World Health Organisation (WHO), which was founded in 1948, did countries manage (or not manage) to contain outbreaks of dangerous diseases by means of legal restrictions?

Quarantine

One of the earliest legal impositions designed to limit the spread of dangerous and infectious diseases is something that we still use today: quarantine. The word derives from quarantena which literally means ‘forty days’ in Italian. A document from 1377 tells us

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
NLJ Career Profile: John McElroy, London Solicitors Litigation Association

NLJ Career Profile: John McElroy, London Solicitors Litigation Association

From first-generation student to trailblazing president of the London Solicitors Litigation Association, John McElroy of Fieldfisher reflects on resilience, identity and the power of bringing your whole self to the law

Clarke Willmott—Elaine Field

Clarke Willmott—Elaine Field

Planning and environment team expands with partner hire in Manchester

Birketts—Barbara Hamilton-Bruce

Birketts—Barbara Hamilton-Bruce

Firm appoints chief operating officer to strengthen leadership team

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: Sanctions ruling casts ‘wide net’ over global finance
A landmark Supreme Court ruling has underscored the sweeping reach of UK sanctions. In NLJ this week, Brónagh Adams and Harriet Campbell of Penningtons Manches Cooper say the regime is a ‘blunt instrument’ requiring only a factual, not causal, link to restricted goods
NLJ this week: England’s courts cement status as fraud battleground
Fraud claims are surging, with England and Wales increasingly the forum of choice for global disputes. Writing in NLJ this week, Jon Felce of Cooke, Young & Keidan reports claims have risen sharply, with fraud now a major share of litigation and costing billions worldwide
NLJ this week: Mazur ruling puts firms on supervision alert
Litigators digesting Mazur are being urged to tighten oversight and compliance. In his latest 'Insider' column for NLJ this week, Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School provides a cut out and keep guide to the ruling’s core test: whether an unauthorised individual is ‘in truth acting on behalf of the authorised individual’
NLJ this week: Landlords’ forced entry powers spark legal divide
Conflicting county court rulings have left landlords uncertain over whether they can force entry after tenants refuse access. In this week's NLJ, Edward Blakeney and Ashpen Rajah of Falcon Chambers outline a split: some judges permit it under CPR 70.2A, others insist only Parliament can authorise such powers
NLJ this week: Push to scrap ‘vague’ public office misconduct law
A wave of scandals has reignited debate over misconduct in public office, criticised as unclear and inconsistently applied. Writing in NLJ this week, Alice Lepeuple of WilmerHale says the offence’s ‘vagueness, overbreadth & inconsistent deployment’ have undermined confidence
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll