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.

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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.

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

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