While the world watches on while COVID-19 cases increase, the non-coronavirus government actions -often overlooked- have had negative effects. It has been nearly two months since the coronavirus first landed on US soil (1/22/20), with cases nearing 900,000 and deaths passing 50,000. Across the globe, numbers are reaching 3 million. Democracy during COVID-19, amidst fear and chaos, is being put on the wayside.
The Negative
During these trying times, some governments are taking advantage of the lack of televised media coverage.
Idaho
Idaho’s governor, Brad Little recently signed two bills into law in mid March concerning gender changes. The bills were two of three anti-trans proposals, both of which passed the state legislature. The third bill did not pass the house, after many Idaho citizens testified against it. That was February, just four days after coronavirus hit US soil. The new bills ban trans girls to compete in girl’s sports, as well as banning gender changes on birth certificates.
While the rest of the country was preparing for COVID-19, Idaho’s priorities were sneaking a bill through the state legislature. Senator Jim Rice, one of the Idaho lawmakers that helped pass the bill said “I think we all understand what the costs and what the risks are in making the decision to go forward.”
Hungary
On the other side of the world, Hungary recently proposed a bill that would end legal gender recognition for transgenders. Similar to the law that Idaho passed, aiming to ban gender changes on birth certificates.
To add insult to injury, the Hungarian parliament passed a law allowing the prime minister to rule by decree as long as the coronavirus is “continuing.” Viktor Orban, the prime minister, had previously introduced a law that banned Hungarian universities from teaching gender studies. Trans rights are frequent targets of Orban’s mostly conservative government.
However, there has been major pushback since this bill was proposed. Dunja Mijatovic, the council of Europe’s commissioner of human rights publicly expressed her distaste for the bill. Human rights activists and Hungarians are publicly criticizing the bill through Twitter and other social media.
United States
On a whole country perspective, the US has been far from perfect when handling the coronavirus. In mid-January, a German team created a test for the coronavirus which was distributed to the WHO (World Health Organization). This German test was used in other countries, and proved successful. American doctors, however, were unable to use the test due to legal issues. Instead, the FDA authorized a different test that took longer to develop and ultimately was deemed faulty.
It wasn’t until early March, with cases reaching 25,000 that private labs could develop tests. This was after a team of researchers in Seattle realized the gravity situation much earlier, in February, and started testing. The researchers were unable to receive approval due to rules that didn’t allow applications to be sent through email, and were quickly ordered to stop testing due to the aforementioned archaic rules.
While this may be some of the “bad news,” other countries have been successful in taking action, related or unrelated to the coronavirus.
Stay safe, and stay at home.