Vigilance in public health emergencies
Jane Williams1, Chris Degeling1, University Of Wollongong Wollongong 1University Of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
Abstract
Vigilance in public health has historically been largely confined to state apparatuses, describing systems set up to detect and report on risk as it pertained to infection, drugs and medical devices. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the NSW government leant heavily on the concept of vigilance and regularly asked for the public to “be vigilant” in public addresses and daily press conferences during time of high risk. Spokespeople did not explain what being vigilant required, however. In an analysis of government communications to the NSW public, we categorised several types of action that were described by or intended in this instruction. They included: state surveillance over public compliance with rules; individuals’ surveillance over others’ compliance with rules; personal surveillance of the body and its health state; individual surveillance of others’ bodies and health states; individual compliance with rules; the state doing its job; individuals contributing to the public good. As this sprawling list suggests, in government communication vigilance was constructed as a set of ideal behaviours that had little in common with how vigilance in public health emergencies had previously been understood. Vigilance and ‘doing the right thing’ became enmeshed. In this paper we look at the interplay of personal responsibility, policing, and the technologies used to enable and perform vigilance as it was constructed in NSW over the different waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Biography
Jane Williams is a senior research fellow at the Australian Centre for Health Engagement, Evidence and Values (ACHEEV) at the University of Wollongong. She conducts interdisciplinary research focused on public health ethics problems, using empirical ethics and qualitative research methodologies.