This work analyses the construction of social isolation as a public problem during the first wave of COVID-19, drawing on experiences in Rio de Janeiro which, in addition to being one of the country’s major cities, had among the highest mortality rates in Brazil in 2020. We consider both the legal measures enacted by government agencies to contain the contagion and media coverage on the effects of these measures at the local level. The results show that, in the absence of compulsory confinement measures, urban public spaces were deployed both by government agencies and the media in a process by which social isolation was framed as a public problem. Legal measures affected daily patterns of movement, mobility, and sociability, and intervened in the dynamics of central urban functions and in access to and use of public spaces. Media reports gave voice to levels of public agreement or disagreement with regulations and emphasised the significance of legal measures to contain the spread of the virus. Public spaces are at the core of debates about compliance with legal measures to enforce social isolation because they are privileged places where social issues become visible and problematic material expressions of relationships between citizens and the law.

中文翻译：

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巴西里约热内卢第一波 COVID-19 大流行期间的社会孤立情景

这项工作分析了在第一波 COVID-19 期间将社会隔离建设作为一个公共问题，借鉴了里约热内卢的经验，里约热内卢除了是该国的主要城市之一，也是巴西死亡率最高的城市之一2020. 我们考虑政府机构为遏制传染而制定的法律措施，以及媒体对这些措施在地方一级的影响的报道。结果表明，在没有强制限制措施的情况下，城市公共空间由政府机构和媒体在社会隔离被视为公共问题的过程中进行部署。法律措施影响了日常的移动、流动和社交模式，并干预了中心城市功能的动态以及公共空间的进入和使用。媒体报道表达了公众对法规的同意或不同意的程度，并强调了采取法律措施遏制病毒传播的重要性。公共空间是关于遵守法律措施以加强社会隔离的辩论的核心，因为它们是社会问题变得可见的特权场所，也是公民与法律之间关系的有问题的物质表达。