A curfew is an order that imposes certain regulations during specified hours.[1] Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to remain indoors during the evening and nighttime hours.[2][3] Such an order is most often issued by public authorities, but may also be given by the owner of a house to those living in the household. For instance, children are often given curfews by their parents, and an au pair is traditionally given a curfew by which time he or she must return to his or her host family's home. Some jurisdictions have juvenile curfews which affect all persons under a certain age not accompanied by an adult or engaged in certain approved activities.
Curfews have been used as a control measure in martial law, as well as for public safety in the event of a disaster, epidemic, or crisis.[4] Various countries have implemented such measures throughout history, including during World War II and the Gulf War. The enforcement of curfews has been found to disproportionately affect marginalised groups, including those who are homeless or have limited access to transportation.[5][6]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, curfews were implemented in several countries, including France, Italy, Poland and Australia, as a measure to limit the spread of the virus.[7][8] However, recent studies have reported negligible or no effect,[9] and even a potential increase in virus transmission.[10] The use and enforcement of curfews during the pandemic has been associated with human rights violations and mental health deterioration, further complicating their use as a control measure.[11][12] Curfews may also impact road safety, as studies indicate a potential decrease in crashes during curfew hours but an increase in crashes before curfew due to rushing.[13]
Etymology
A 17th century "curfew", used to cover a fire at night
Between the evening twilight and the grayness before dawn one can hardly make out the walls of the houses, for there is no lighting in the medieval city as we said. At evening curfew the women cover the coals in the hearth with ash to reduce the fire hazard. The houses are built with beams of oak and every one is a potential tinderbox waiting to blaze up, so at night the only flames left burning are the candles before the holy images. Why would the streets need to be lit anyway? In the evening the entrances to the dangerous neighborhoods are barred, chains are stretched across the river to prevent a surprise attack from barbarian raiders coming upstream, and the city gates are locked tight. The city is like one big household, with everything well secured.
Arsenio Frugoni,Quoted in Urban Space in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Age[14]
The word "curfew" /ˈkɜːr.fjuː/ comes from the Old French phrase "couvre-feu", which means "cover fire".[1] It was later adopted into Middle English as "curfeu", which later became the modern "curfew".[15] Its original meaning refers to a law by William the Conqueror that all lights and fires should be covered to extinction at the ringing of an eight o'clock bell to prevent the spread of destructive fire within communities in timber buildings.[16] With the same derivation a "curfew" also refers to a device used to cover the embers of a fire at night, allowing it to be re-ignited more easily in the morning.[17]
Curfews have been used since the Middle Ages to limit uprisings among subordinate groups, including Anglo-Saxons under William the Conqueror. Prior to the U.S. Civil War, most Southern states placed a curfew on slaves.[18]:603
Modern curfews primarily focus on youth as well as during periods of war and other crisis. In the United States, progressive reformers pushed for curfews on youth, successfully securing bans on children's nighttime presence on streets in cities such as Louisville, Kentucky and Lincoln, Nebraska. General curfews were also put into place after crises such as the 1871 Chicago Fire.[18]:603–605
Wartime curfews were also implemented during the First and Second World Wars. A formal curfew introduced by the British board of trade ordered shops and entertainment establishments to extinguish their lights by 10:30p.m. to save fuel during World War I.[19]
Types
An order issued by public authorities or military forces requiring everyone or certain people to be indoors at certain times, often at night. It can be imposed to maintain public order (as was the case with the northeast blackout of 2003, the 2005 French riots, the 2010 Chile earthquake, the 2011 Egyptian revolution, and the 2014 Ferguson unrest), or suppress targeted groups. Curfews have long been directed at certain groups in many cities or states, such as Japanese-American university students on the West Coast of the United States during World War II, African-Americans in many towns during the time of Jim Crow laws, or people younger than a certain age (usually within a few years either side of 18) in many towns of the United States since the 1980s. In recent times, curfews have been imposed by many countries during disease epidemics or pandemics such as the COVID-19 pandemic; see below.
A rule set for a child or teenager by their parents or legal guardians, requiring them to return home by a specific time, usually in the evening or night. This may apply daily, or vary with the day of the week, e.g., if the minor has to go to school the next day.
An order by the head of household to a domestic assistant such as an au pair or nanny. The domestic assistant must then return home by a specific time.
A daily requirement for guests to return to their hostel before a specified time, usually in the evening or night.
A daily requirement that a person subject to a court order, such as probation or bail conditions, must return to their home before a certain hour and be inside it until a certain hour of the morning.
In baseball, a time after which a game must end, or play be suspended. For example, in the American League the curfew rule for many years decreed that no inning could begin after 1am local time (with the exception of international games).
In a few locations in the UK, patrons of licensed premises may not enter after a "curfew" time, also known as "last orders". In Inverclyde, for example, this is currently set at 12:00am.[20]
In many boarding schools, students are usually ordered by school staff to stay in their dormitories at night.
On 17 August 2011, a nighttime curfew was imposed on children who had run amok in the streets of Victoria after repeating youth offenses.[21]
On 2 August 2020, following the surge of COVID-19 cases in Victoria, especially in Melbourne, Victorian premierDaniel Andrews declared a state of disaster across the state and imposed stage 4 lockdown in Metropolitan Melbourne. The new measures included nighttime curfew, which was implemented across Melbourne from 20:00 to 05:00 (AEST). The restrictions came into effect at 18:00 (6 pm) and lasted until 28 September 2020 (5 am).[22][23]
On 16 August 2021, following a surge of COVID-19 cases and a drop in compliance in restrictions in Victoria, especially in Melbourne, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews reinstated the curfew in Melbourne, this time from 21:00 to 05:00 (AEST) effective midnight 17 August 2021 until at least 2 September 2021.[24]
On 20 August 2021, as COVID-19 cases continued to surge in New South Wales, NSW PremierGladys Berejiklian imposed a curfew in the local government areas of Bayside, Blacktown, Burwood, Campbelltown, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Liverpool, Parramatta, Strathfield, and parts of Penrith, from 9:00 pm to 5:00 am (AEST) beginning from 23 August.[25]
On 17 October 2020, due to surge of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Belgium, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo announced a nationwide curfew from midnight to 05:00am local time. The curfew was imposed on 19 October 2020 and was to last for four weeks.[26] The government also announced the closure of cafes, bars and restaurants for one month and alcohol sales were banned after 8:00pm local time.[27]
On 19 July 2024 Bangladesh government[28] declared a national curfew and announced plans to deploy the army to tackle the country’s worst unrest in a decade.[29][30][31] The government announced the imposition of a curfew after days of clashes at protests against government job quotas across the country.[32][33][34]
On 4th August 2024 Bangladesh government declared a curfew again following the deadliest day of the protest with Mass shooting and a violent crackdown on the Non Cooperation Movement.
Sign in a Montréal store window indicating that the store would close early due to curfew (2021).
On 6 January 2021, due to a surge of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the province of Quebec, a curfew was ordered by the premier of Quebec François Legault. The curfew was adjusted for different areas of the province depending on the number of cases, amongst other criteria. The more populous areas, such as the urban areas of Montréal and Quebec City qualified as "red zones" and were placed under a curfew from 8 pm to 5 am while the less urban areas were either "orange zones" with a curfew from 9:30pm to 5am. This curfew was expected to be in effect from 9 January up to and including 8 February 2021. "Yellow zones" did not have curfew. However, the curfew did not end in February. It ended on May 28, 2021.[35] On December 30, 2021, Quebec reinstated the nightly curfew this time starting at 10:00pm to 5:00 am.[36] Following the reinstatement of the curfew, studies came out doubting its effectiveness in lowering the transmission of COVID-19.[37]
Egypt
On 28 January 2011, during the Egyptian Revolution and following the collapse of the police system, President Hosni Mubarak declared a country-wide military enforced curfew.[38] However, it was ignored by demonstrators who continued their sit-in in Tahrir Square. Concerned residents formed neighborhood vigilante groups to defend their communities against looters and the newly escaped prisoners.[39]
On the second anniversary of the revolution, in January 2013, a wave of demonstrations swept the country against President Mohamed Morsi who declared a curfew in Port Said, Ismaïlia, and Suez, three cities where deadly street clashes had occurred. In defiance, the locals took to the streets during the curfew,[40] organizing football tournaments and street festivals,[41] prohibiting police and military forces from enforcing the curfew.
On 27 March 2020, Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama announced a nationwide curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. that would take effect on 30 March. The times have been adjusted forward and backward on several occasions, but as of January 2022, this curfew is still in effect.[42] The government of Fiji maintains that this curfew will stay in effect for the foreseeable future.[43]
On 14 October 2020, following the surge of COVID-19 cases and deaths in France that threatened to overwhelm hospitals, French President Emmanuel Macron declared a national state of public health emergency for the second time and imposed a nighttime curfew in the Île-de-France region that includes Paris, as well as Grenoble, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier, Rouen, Saint-Etienne, and Toulouse. The curfew ran from 09:00pm to 06:00am local time (CEST) (08:00pm to 05:00am CET) and was implemented from 17 October 2020 to last four weeks.[44]
Under the rules, people in those cities could only leave their homes for essential reasons,[45] and anyone who violated the curfew would face a fine of 135 euros ($158.64) for the first offence. A second offence would bring a far steeper fine of 1,500 euros, or around $1,762.[46] On 23 October, the curfew was expanded to 38 departments and French Polynesia. In total, 54 departments and one overseas collectivity were affected by new restrictions, comprising 46 million people, or two-thirds of the French population.[47]
Iceland
Under Iceland's Child Protection Act (no. 80/2002 Art. 92),[48] minors aged 12 and under may not be outdoors after 20:00 (8:00pm) unless accompanied by an adult. Minors aged 13 to 16 may not be outdoors after 22:00 (10:00pm), unless on their way home from a recognized event organized by a school, sports organization or youth club. During the period 1 May to 1 September, children may be outdoors for two hours longer.
Children and teenagers that break curfew are taken to the local police station and police officers tell their parents to come and get them. The age limits are based upon year of birth, not date of birth. If a parent cannot be reached, the child or teenager is taken to a shelter.
Ireland
Several medieval towns in Ireland had a curfew after the English model. In Galway a curfew bell was rung every night before the town gates were locked.[49] In Kilkenny the night watchmen stood guard over the market stalls "from curfew to cockcrow."[50]
During the 1916 Easter Rising, Dublin was under curfew between 7:30p.m. and 5:30am.[51]
During the Irish War of Independence curfews were regularly imposed, including in 1920 in Dublin between midnight and 5am. Curfew between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. was imposed on Cork City in July 1920 after the shooting of Gerald Smyth; in August it was extended to many parts of Munster.[52]
In 1921 Limerick was under a curfew.[53][54][55] In 1921, Dublin's curfew began at 10pm, moved to 9 p.m on 4 March.[56]
In the Republic of Ireland, a restriction on movement order may be placed on an offender, which may include a curfew element.[57][58][59]
In Italy a curfew went into effect from October 2020 to limit the spread of COVID-19. Between 22 and 26 October 2020 Lombardy, Campania, Lazio, Sicily, Calabria and Piedmont imposed a curfew between 11.00pm and 5.00am, so any movement was prohibited.[60][61][62]
With the ministerial decree of 3 November 2020,[63] corrected with the DPCM of 3 December 2020,[64] and 14 January 2021,[65] the Italian Regions are grouped into three types of different epidemiological scenarios. A curfew is instituted nationwide from 10pm to 5am, shopping centers are ordered to close on weekends, and the use of distance learning for high schools.[66]
There have been many protests and riots against the curfew nationwide since it came into effect. However, the curfew has not been lifted by the government.[67][68]
On 21 December 2020, the government of Morocco first announced a nationwide nighttime curfew as part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, to come into effect on 23 December.[69] Initially implemented for a three-week period from 9:00pm–6:00am, it was extended throughout 2021 alongside the state of health emergency, with hours altered during Ramadan (8:00pm–6:00am),[70] and from May to early August (11:00pm–4:30am).[71] The curfew was lifted on 10 November 2021.[72]
In the Netherlands, a curfew from 9:00pm to 4:30am local time went into effect on 23 January 2021 to limit the spread of COVID-19.[73] Across the first two nights, 5,765 people were given the 95 euro fine for disobeying the curfew.[74] Nationwide anti-curfew riots occurred from 23 until 26 January, resulting in the arrests of over 575 people. On 8 February, the government announced an extension of the curfew until 2 March.[75] The curfew was lifted on April 28, 2021[76] and has not been reinstated since then.
In Slovenia, a curfew was implemented in February1942 in the area occupied by Italy during World WarII. More recently, it was imposed in October2020 during the COVID-19 epidemic to limit the spread of the virus.[77] The curfew, which was referred to as the "epidemiological curfew," was enforced from 20October2020 to 12April2021, from 9:00 pm to 6:00 am local time, for a total of 174 days.[78] The measure was recommended by the government's COVID-19 expert group and enforced under the Infectious Diseases Act. The curfew was criticized by some experts as unnecessary and was challenged for its potential violation of human rights.[79] In April 2023, the Constitutional Court declined to assess the curfew regulations as no longer valid, although a concern has been raised that similar measures may be implemented in the future.[80]
South Korea
In South Korea, a curfew was imposed following the American military occupation and end of Japanese colonial rule in 1945. It remained in place throughout the Korean War and decades thereafter until it was lifted on 4 January 1982 under the presidency of Chun Doo-hwan, a few months after the capital Seoul was awarded host of the 1988 Summer Olympics.[81]
In Spain, a curfew was imposed from 11:00pm to 6:00am local time on 25 October 2020 to limit the spread of COVID-19, in addition to some Autonomous Communities starting the curfew at 10:00pm.[82]
Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka Police are empowered to declare and enforce a Police Curfew in any police area for any particular period to maintain the peace, law and order under the Police Ordinance. Under the emergency regulations of the Public Security Ordinance, the President may declare a curfew over the whole or over any part of the country. Travel is restricted, during a curfew, to authorised persons such as police, armed forces personal and public officers. Civilians may gain a Curfew Pass from a police station to travel during a curfew.
The United Kingdom's 2003 Anti-Social Behaviour Act created zones that allow police from 9pm to 6am to hold and escort home unaccompanied minors under the age of 16, whether badly behaved or not. Although hailed as a success,[84] the High Court ruled in one particular case that the law did not give the police a power of arrest, and officers could not force someone to come with them. On appeal the court of appeal held that the act gave police powers to escort minors home only if they are involved in, or at risk from, actual or imminently anticipated bad behaviour.[85]
In a few towns in the United Kingdom, the curfew bell is still rung as a continuation of the medieval tradition where the bell used to be rung from the parish church to guide travelers safely towards a town or village as darkness fell, or when bad weather made it difficult to follow trackways and for the villagers to extinguish their lights and fires as a safety measure to combat accidental fires. Until 1100 it was against the law to burn any lights after the ringing of the curfew bell. In Morpeth, the curfew is rung each night at 8pm from Morpeth Clock Tower. In Chertsey, it is rung at 8pm, from Michaelmas to Lady Day.[86] A short story concerning the Chertsey curfew, set in 1471, and entitled "Blanche Heriot. A legend of old Chertsey Church" was published by Albert Richard Smith in 1843, and formed a basis for the poem "Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight". At Castleton in the Peak District, the curfew is rung from Michaelmas to Shrove Tuesday.[87] At Wallingford in Oxfordshire, the curfew bell continues to be rung at 9pm rather than 8pm which is a one-hour extension granted by William The Conqueror as the Lord of the town was a Norman sympathiser. However, none of these curfew bells serves its original function.
Northern Ireland
During the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the British Army made an attempt to search for illegal items secretly held by Official IRA (OIRA) and the Provisional IRA (IRA) in Falls Road, Belfast, a predominantly Catholic neighbourhood. The operation, which became known as the Falls Curfew, took place from 3 to 5 July 1970, with British troops carrying out searches. As it ended, local youths attacked the soldiers, who responded by deploying riot control tactics; the confrontation quickly developed into a series of gunfights between the British Army and the IRA. After four hours, the Army sealed off the area and imposed a 36-hour curfew, carrying out more searches and recovering 96 weapons before the operation ended. Ultimately, 4 civilians were killed, 78 wounded and 337 arrested. 18 soldiers were also wounded. The curfew was later found to be illegal and no further attempts to impose curfews were made during the Troubles.[88]
During the 2020–21 coronavirus pandemic, a curfew was imposed between Christmas 2020 and New Years 2021, 8 p.m. to 6am, to reduce contagion.[89][88]
United States
Curfew law in the United States is usually a matter of local ordinance (mainly applied by a municipality or county), rather than federal law. However, the Constitution guarantees certain rights, which have been applied to the states through the 14th Amendment. Hence, any curfew law may be overruled and struck down if, for example, it violates 1st, 4th, 5th or 14th Amendment rights.
Nonetheless, curfews are set by state and local governments. They vary by state[90] and even by county or municipality.
American military curfews are a tool used by commanders at various installations to shape the behavior of soldiers.[91]
Juvenile curfews
Local ordinances and state statutes may make it unlawful for minors below a certain age to be on public streets, unless they are accompanied by a parent or an adult or on lawful and necessary business on behalf of their parents or guardians. For example, a Michigan state law provides that "[n]o minor under the age of 12 years shall loiter, idle or congregate in or on any public street, highway, alley or park between the hours of 10 o'clock p.m. and 6 o'clock a.m., unless the minor is accompanied by a parent or guardian, or some adult delegated by the parent or guardian to accompany the child." MCLA § 722.751; MSA § 28.342(1). Curfew laws in other states and cities typically set forth different curfews for minors of different ages.
The stated purpose of such laws is generally to deter disorderly behavior and crime, while others can include to protect youth from victimization and to strengthen parental responsibility,[92] but their effectiveness is subject to debate. Generally, curfews attempt to address vandalism, shootings, and property crimes, which are believed to happen mostly at night, but are less commonly used to address underage drinking, drunk driving, risky driving,[93] and teenage pregnancy. Parents can be fined, charged or ordered to take parenting classes for willingly, or through insufficient control or supervision, permitting the child to violate the curfew. Many local curfew laws were enacted in the 1950s and 1960s to attack the "juvenile delinquent" problem of youth gangs. Most curfew exceptions include:
accompanied by a parent or an adult appointed by the parent;
going to or coming home from work, school, religious, or recreational activity;
engaging in a lawful employment activity or;
involved in an emergency;
Some cities make it illegal for a business owner, operator, or any employee to knowingly allow a minor to remain in the establishment during curfew hours. A business owner, operator, or any employee may be also subject to fines.[94]
A 2011 UC-Berkeley study looked at the 54 larger U.S. cities that enacted youth curfews between 1985 and 2002 and found that arrests of youths affected by curfew restrictions dropped almost 15% in the first year and approximately 10% in following years.[95] However, not all studies agree with the conclusion that youth curfew laws actually reduce crime, and many studies find no benefit or sometimes even the opposite.[96][97] For example, one 2016 systematic review of 12 studies on the matter found that the effect on crime is close to zero, and can perhaps even backfire somewhat.[98]
There are also concerns about racial profiling.[99] In response to concerns about racial profiling, Montgomery County, Maryland, passed a limited curfew, which would permit police officers to arrest juveniles in situations that appear threatening.[100]
Many malls in the United States have policies that prohibit minors under a specified age from entering the mall after specified times,[101] unless they are accompanied by a parent or another adult or are working at the mall during curfew times.[102] Such policies are known as mall curfews. For example, the Mall of America's Youth Supervision Policy, requires all minors visiting Mall after 4 p.m. to be accompanied by someone 21 or older. One adult can chaperone up to four minors. The policy is part of the mall's broader security program, which includes the addition of metal detectors, more patrols and a K-9 unit. Malls that have policies prohibiting unaccompanied minors at any time are known as parental escort policies.[103]
States and municipalities in the United States have occasionally enacted curfews on the population at large, often as a result of severely inclement weather or civil disorder. Some such curfews require all citizens simply to refrain from driving. Others require all citizens to remain inside, with exceptions granted to those in important positions, such as elected officials, law enforcement personnel, first responders, healthcare workers, and the mass media.
However, unlike juvenile curfews, all-ages curfews have always been very limited in terms of both location and duration. That is, they are temporary and restricted to very specific areas, and generally only implemented during states of emergency, then subsequently lifted or allowed to sunset.
In 2015, the city of Baltimore enacted a curfew on all citizens that lasted for five days and prohibited all citizens from going outdoors from 10pm to 5am with the exception of those traveling to or from work and those with medical emergencies. This was in response to the 2015 Baltimore protests.
During the global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, local curfews were used (typically in combination with daytime lockdown policies) in the attempt to slow down the spread of the virus by limiting nonessential interactions between people from different households. Later in 2020, citywide curfews were enacted in major cities across the country due to protests following the killing of George Floyd in May. Arizona enacted a statewide curfew. Countywide curfews were enacted for Los Angeles County and Alameda County in California. In spring 2021, the city of Miami Beach, Florida enacted a citywide curfew due to public disorder associated with spring break celebrations.
↑ Brass, Paul R. (2006). "Collective Violence, Human Rights, and the Politics of Curfew". Journal of Human Rights. 5 (3): 323–340. doi:10.1080/14754830600812324. S2CID35491331.
↑ Bedoya Arguelles, Guadalupe; Dolinger, Amy; Dolkart, Caitlin Fitzgerald; Legovini, Arianna; Milusheva, Sveta; Marty, Robert Andrew; Taniform, Peter Ngwa (5 April 2023). The Unintended Consequences of Curfews on Road Safety(PDF) (Policy Research Working Paper). Retrieved 18 April 2023.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Kuwait was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The first confirmed case in Kuwait was announced on 24 February 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands has resulted in 8,642,005 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 22,986 deaths.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 virus. The first case of the virus in Sri Lanka was confirmed on 27 January 2020, after a 44-year-old Chinese woman from Hubei, China, was admitted to the Infectious Disease Hospital in Angoda, Sri Lanka. As of 15 December 2022, a total of 671,776 COVID-19 cases had been recorded in the country, 654,919 patients had recovered from the disease, and 16,814 patients had died.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Morocco was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have spread to Morocco on 2 March 2020, when the first case COVID-19 case was confirmed in Casablanca. It involved a Moroccan expatriate residing in Bergamo, Italy, who arrived from Italy on 27 February. A second case was confirmed later that same day involving an 89-year-old Moroccan woman residing in Italy who had returned to Morocco on 25 February from Bologna, Italy. As the outbreak widened in Morocco, in mid-March the Government closed schools and suspended international passenger flights.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Paraguay was a part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have reached Paraguay on March 7, 2020, in a 32-year-old man from Guayaquil, Ecuador, living in San Lorenzo, Central Department. Three days later, on March 10, 2020, a second case was confirmed in a 61-year-old man who traveled from Argentina; the same day three more cases were confirmed. Due to this spike, the government began imposing the first measures to stop the disease from spreading.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have reached Kenya on 12 March 2020, with the initial cases reported in the capital city Nairobi and in the coastal area Mombasa.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Saint Lucia was a part of the ongoing global viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which was confirmed to have reached Saint Lucia on 13 March 2020. As of 2 September 2022, there are a total of 28,894 confirmed cases, of which 28,369 have recovered and 391 deaths have occurred.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Fiji is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The first case of the disease in Fiji was reported on 19 March 2020 in Lautoka. as of 3 January 2022, the country has had a total of 55,009 cases as of which 2,417 are currently active and 702 deaths, with cases reported on all divisions of the country. Apart from the COVID-19 deaths, 621 COVID-19 positive patients have died from pre-existing non-COVID-19 related illnesses. In March 2021, Fiji became the first Pacific island country to receive COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX initiative with frontline workers and first responders the first to be vaccinated. As of 2 January 2022, more than 600,000 (98%) Fijians have received their first jab of the vaccine and almost 560,000 (92%) Fijians have received their second jab and are fully vaccinated. To date, only the AstraZeneca vaccine, Moderna vaccine and the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine have been deployed in the country. The country have also administered booster shots. Vaccination is mandated, however only to the adult population.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Barbados was a part of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The outbreak was identified in Wuhan, Hubei, China, in December 2019, declared to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30 January 2020, and recognized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization on 11 March 2020. COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The case fatality rate for COVID-19 has been much lower than for other coronavirus respiratory infections such as SARS and MERS, but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll.
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the French overseas collectivity of New Caledonia on 18 March 2020. All cases are on the main island of Grand Terre and are related to travel abroad. On 7 May, all cases had recovered.
The Indian state governments have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in India with various declarations of emergency, closure of institutions and public meeting places, and other restrictions intended to contain the spread of the virus.
During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions, particularly lockdowns, were implemented in numerous countries and territories around the world. These restrictions were established with the intention to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. By April 2020, about half of the world's population was under some form of lockdown, with more than 3.9 billion people in more than 90 countries or territories having been asked or ordered to stay at home by their governments. Although similar disease control measures have been used for hundreds of years, the scale of those implemented in the 2020s is thought to be unprecedented.
On the evening of 24 March 2020, the Government of India ordered a nationwide lockdown for 21days, limiting the movement of the entire 1.38billion population of India as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 pandemic in India. It was ordered after a 14-hour voluntary public curfew on 22March, followed by enforcement of a series of regulations in COVID-19 affected countries. The lockdown was placed when the number of confirmed positive coronavirus cases in India was approximately 500. Upon its announcement, a mass movement of people across the country was described as the largest since the partition of India in 1947. Observers stated that the lockdown had slowed the growth rate of the pandemic by 6April to a rate of doubling every six days, and by 18April, to a rate of doubling every eight days. As the end of the first lockdown period approached, state governments and other advisory committees recommended extending the lockdown. The governments of Odisha and Punjab extended the state lockdowns to 1 May. Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal, and Telangana followed suit. On 14April, Prime minister Narendra Modi extended the nationwide lockdown until 3May, on the written recommendation of governors and lieutenant governors of all the states, with conditional relaxations after 20April for the regions where the spread had been contained or was minimal.
The global viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was confirmed to have reached the British Overseas Territory of the British Virgin Islands in March 2020.
False rumors of a police shooting resulted in rioting, arson, and looting in the U.S. city of Minneapolis from August 26–28, 2020. The events began as a reaction to the suicide of Eddie Sole Jr., a 38-year old black man who was being pursued by Minneapolis police officers for his alleged involvement in a homicide. At approximately 2 p.m. on August 26, Sole died after he shot himself in the head as officers approached to arrest him. False rumors quickly spread on social media that Minneapolis police officers had fatally shot Sole. To quell unrest, Minneapolis police released closed-circuit television surveillance footage that captured Sole's suicide, which was later confirmed by a Hennepin County Medical Examiner's autopsy report.
Between 2020 and 2022 hundreds of people from all over Italy protested against COVID-19 regulations. The protests ended with the abolition of the majority of restrictions in June 2022. After the 2022 Italian general election in September, the remaining restrictions were removed completely by the Meloni Cabinet after Giorgia Meloni began serving as Prime Minister in October 2022.
The 2021 Dutch curfew riots were a series of riots in the Netherlands that initiated as protests against the government's COVID-19 prevention measures and specifically the 21:00–4:30 curfew that was introduced on 23 January 2021. The police have described the riots as the worst in the country since the 1980 coronation riots.
Protests and civil disorder occurred in reaction to the killing of Daunte Wright on April 11, 2021. Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, was fatally shot by police officer Kimberly Potter during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, United States. Protests that first began in Brooklyn Center spread to other locations in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area and then to other cities in the United States. Several nights of civil disorder in Brooklyn Center and adjacent cities resulted in sporadic looting and damage to a few hundred properties, including four businesses that were set on fire.
The George Floyd protests in Atlanta were a series of protests occurring in Atlanta, the capital and largest city of Georgia, United States. The protests were part of the George Floyd protests and, more broadly, the 2020–2021 United States racial unrest, which began shortly after the murder of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020. On May 26, protesting occurred in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area and, over the next several weeks, protests spread to cities throughout the United States and then internationally.
Protests against COVID-19 in the Netherlands were a series of protests and riots in the Netherlands against the government COVID-19 prevention measures, which were in force between 27 January 2020 and 20 May 2022, with travel restrictions lifted on 17 September 2022. The protests came to a head with the 2021 Dutch curfew riots in response to a nationwide night-time curfew between 23 January and 28 April 2021. Since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands, a number of anti-lockdown protest groups and individual protesters have shifted their attention to the ongoing, largely concurrent Dutch farmers' protests against government legislation to limit agricultural pollution by downsizing livestock production.
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