In 2020, the world faced a global pandemic with lasting consequences. COVID-19 affected all – rich or poor, developed or non-developed. It was not an issue for a particular country; instead, it was a global problem to which all countries were reacting to protect their citizens from the disease. Although there now seems to be a return to normalcy, it would be prudent to reassess the handling of the pandemic. This book is multifaceted, covering various topics on COVID-19 in different Asian countries, and assumes the role of a historical resource and a legal and policy handbook. The thirty chapters on the different situations of COVID-19 in each country in Asia are written by sixty-one experts in the field of either policy or law from seventeen different jurisdictions and, by describing everyday life in each of the countries, return readers to the COVID-19 period when everything was closed, populations were quarantined, travelling was limited or completely stopped, and people scrambled to buy living essentials for survival.
The book then provides a factual description of governmental responses and regulations to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and the legal responses for protection and recovery. Who has the legal responsibility to respond to the rapid spread of the disease? How would individuals sustain themselves financially when access to finance was limited? What policy decisions were made by governments to protect their citizens and prevent the spread of disease? This book is divided into six major parts to answer these questions, beginning with an excellent prelude of a short history and thematic overview by Victor V. Ramraj and Matthew Little. Part One discusses the first wave of COVID-19 in Asia and how the countries initially reacted, and the measures taken to contain the infection; for example, by regulating a person's travelling and health history through the use of QR codes or using technology to monitor compliance with isolation or quarantine orders. Part Two covers the emergency powers of the government used in each country to prevent the disease from spreading among the people within and outside their territory, including examples from Japan, Thailand, and India. Part Three covers the technology, science, and expertise used to regulate the disease, such as tracing an infected person's contact history. Part Four discusses the politics, religion, and governance in regulating COVID-19. Part Five concludes with information on the countries' economies, climate, and sustainability in reaction to the pandemic.
This book comprehensively provides the policy and legal responses of several Asian countries in a collaborative yet comparative study. It successfully situates them within the problematic and complex factual contexts of those Asian countries.
Competing interests
The author declares none.
