COVID-19 is a major societal, global and ethical challenge. The pandemic forced policy makers and public health authorities across the globe to make ethically challenging decisions, under conditions of uncertainty and time pressure.

Our research project “Shelter in place?” combines theoretical and conceptual ethical analysis with empirical research in the form of qualitative interviews with key stakeholders, policy makers and non-governmental organisations to generate a comprehensive ethics assessment within the discipline of public health ethics. With the help of an international team of world-leading public health ethics experts as partners, the project aims to improve the capacity for ethically sensitive decision making about non-pharmaceutical public health measures taken during the first nine months of the COVID-19 pandemic in three different countries - Germany, Israel and Australia. We are hoping to achieve a better understanding of the different ethical values as they were considered in the different measures applied, from those different perspectives, and formulate ethical recommendations for future public health emergencies.

Funded by VolkswagenStiftung within the call “Corona Crisis and Beyond – Perspectives for Science, Scholarship and Society” (2020/2021)