ABSTRACT
An obvious point about the COVID-19 pandemic is that it has created a huge amount of uncertainty that the people are unable to resolve on our own. Much of that uncertainty centres on the nature of the virus itself and questions of biology and epidemiology. As the World Health Organization notes, “the current COVID-19 outbreak has provoked social stigma and discriminatory behaviours against people of certain ethnic backgrounds as well as anyone perceived to have been in contact with the virus”. The significance of these issues in a world torn asunder by COVID-19 is all too clear. Indeed, even where the people have not contracted the virus and been excluded on that basis (e.g., by having to self-isolate or being placed in the quarantine), the process of protecting oneself against it (e.g., by practicing physical distancing) can itself be exclusionary.
