For me, from a government system perspective, it depends wholly on whether or not a state of emergency has been declared. There are things that governments can

For me, from a government system perspective, it depends wholly on whether or not a state of emergency has been declared. There are things that governments can do that they normally should not do. However, there are things that a government really should do in certain emergencies. Tracking individuals during a pandemic is one of those things. Curtailing the freedom to assemble is another one of those things. It should take an act of parliament (or the equivalent) and it should be temporary (with possible extensions). Of course, the ironic this is that in 1984, "We have always been at war with Eurasia". That is the thing that legitimises the draconian measures. This is what Orwell warns about. However, I think it is important to understand that there is a big difference between creating an excuse for extrordinary measures and actually dealing with an emergency. It is critically important that we allow the latter while resisting the former. The difficulty is that this kind of action requires a nuanced response and large numbers of people put together often have difficulty with nuance. P.S. I'm talking in general and not commenting directly on the fine article.