This article investigates the lawfulness of isolating residents of care and group homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many residents are mobile, and their freedom to move is a central ethical tenet and human right. It is not however an absolute right and trade-offs between autonomy, liberty and health need to be made since COVID-19 is highly infectious and poses serious risks of critical illness and death. People living in care and group homes may be particularly vulnerable because recommended hygiene practices are difficult for them and many residents are elderly, and/or have co-morbidities. In some circumstances, the trade-offs can be made easily with the agreement of the resident and for short periods of time. However challenging cases arise, in particular for residents and occupants with dementia who ‘wander’, meaning they have a strong need to walk, sometimes due to agitation, as may also be the case for some people with developmental disability (e.g. autism), or as a consequence of mental illness.

This article addresses three central questions: (1) in what circumstances is it lawful to isolate residents of social care homes to prevent transmission of COVID-19, in particular where the resident has a strong compulsion to walk and will not, or cannot, remain still and isolated? (2) what types of strategies are lawful to curtail walking and achieve isolation and social distancing? (3) is law reform required to ensure any action to restrict freedoms is lawful and not excessive? These questions emerged during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and are still relevant. Although focussed on COVID-19, the results are also relevant to other future outbreaks of infectious diseases in care and group homes. Likewise, while we concentrate on the law in England and Wales, the analysis and implications have international significance.

本文研究了在COVID-19大流行期间隔离居民和团体住宅的合法性。许多居民是流动的，他们的迁徙自由是一项重要的道德原则和人权。然而，这并不是绝对权利，因为COVID-19具有高度传染性，并带来重大疾病和死亡的严重风险，因此需要在自治，自由与健康之间进行权衡。住在疗养院和集体住所中的人们可能特别容易受到伤害，因为他们难以遵循推荐的卫生习惯，而且许多居民都是老年人，和/或患有合并症。在某些情况下，在居民同意的情况下，很容易在短时间内进行权衡。但是，挑战性案例不断涌现，特别是对于痴呆的居民和居住者“徘徊”，

本文解决了三个核心问题：（1）在什么情况下隔离社会养老院居民以防止COVID-19传播是合法的，特别是在居民有强烈的强迫行走能力且不会或不能留下的情况下仍然和孤立？（2）哪些类型的策略可合法减少步行，实现孤立和社会隔离？（3）是否需要进行法律改革以确保采取任何限制自由的行动是合法的而不是过度的？这些问题是在COVID-19大流行的第一波浪潮中出现的，并且仍然有意义。尽管重点放在COVID-19上，但结果也与将来在护理院和集体住所中爆发其他传染病有关。同样，尽管我们专注于英格兰和威尔士的法律，但分析和启示具有国际意义。