Equal Rights and Opportunities During the COVID-19 Pandemic, in Consideration of the Huge Difference between Big Cities and Small Towns

Abstract

The current pandemic has imposed the need to apply protective measures to prevent the spread of the virus. These include, in particular, restrictions on freedom of movement, with all the ensuing consequences. In some states, governments have chosen to impose total lockdowns for a certain period, which is useful for lowering the levels of contagion, while others have preferred to adopt semi-lockdowns. The Italian government, for example, in recent months, has chosen to divide the regions into colors: red, orange, yellow and green, depending on the needs and severity of the conditions within each territory. The decisions that have been made, however, do not take into account the important differences between regions, given that some of them offer more opportunities than others, nor they have considered the differences between cities and towns. In fact, there is a huge difference between people who live in big cities with all the conveniences that allow them to live comfortably for some time within their own municipalities, and people who live in small towns, where there are no opportunities for recreation or where, more generally, the same opportunities do not exist. Therefore, stopping people, for many consecutive days, from moving between one municipality and another, as happens for those who live in red and orange regions, means violating the principle of equality and other fundamental rights related to the expression of personality. In situations of extreme emergency, such as the current one, therefore, it is important to consider the idea of ​​revising cities and towns, adapting services to actual needs, in order to balance the protection of public health with the right of the citizens to live in dignity. The government restrictions of fundamental rights should never be discriminatory, but always proportionate, according to the context in which they are applied. When it becomes difficult for mothers to even reach hospitals to give birth to their babies, or for people to access essential services due to restrictions, it becomes necessary to ask how the space of the actual cities should be reviewed during the COVID-19 pandemic.