Coronavirus: concerns grow over rule-breaking as restrictions take their toll on people’s well-being
- Social distancing and quarantine rules are affecting people’s well-being, but attempts to flout the rules risk spreading Covid-19
- Recent cases include a flight from Russia to China, where almost 200 passengers presented fake test results
The recent surge in Covid-19 cases around the world has prompted a growing number of reports that people are flouting social distancing and lockdown rules as the restrictions take a growing toll on people’s mental health and well-being.
On Thursday the Chinese embassy in Russia said almost 200 passengers on a flight from Moscow to Zhengzhou had been denied permission to enter the country after they presented identical Covid-19 test results to the authorities. They must now provide a genuine test result before they will be allowed to return home.
Even New Zealand, hailed for its stellar Covid-19 response, has seen its share of people breaking quarantine rules. Since April, at least 14 have escaped from mandatory quarantine, including one man who climbed out of a fourth-story window with a rope made out of bedsheets in October, according to local media.
In other parts of the world, people have adopted more creative measures to break the rules. Last month pubs in Scotland were warned to double check funeral bookings following reports that some people were staging “fake wakes” to exploit a rule that exempted mourners from a strict curbs on serving alcohol indoors.
01:20
Shanghai airport briefly overwhelmed by mass testing after cargo worker Covid-19 case cluster
Researchers point to a range of reasons for people breaking the rules, including fatigue, stigma and boredom.