Overview

The authors analyse the COVID-19 pandemic based on knowledge acquired by social studies on disaster risks and public risk management policies. The first finding is that the excessive concentration on epidemiological data and the virus itself hid the way the pandemic exacerbated pre-existing social inequalities. And, in the same sense, how public policies of forced confinement, physical distancing and sanctioning measures affect the most vulnerable people and groups, conditioning future recovery or even the idea of ​​a viable future.

The analysis of a virus as a threat depends, in addition to its inherent characteristics, on human behaviour and on the socially constructed factors that configure this threat.

Thinking the pandemic in the medium and long term, the key question for the authors is whether what is being pursued is the simple resumption of the current economic model or whether public policies will shape the emergence of a new model, more sustainable, more egalitarian and enhancing social solidarity.