Politics Go "Viral": A Computational Text Analysis of the Public Attribution and Attitude Regarding the COVID-19 Crisis and Governmental Responses on Twitter

The U.S. confronts an unprecedented public health crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, in the presidential election year in 2020. In such a compound situation, a real-time dynamic examination of how the general public ascribe the crisis responsibilities taking account to their political ideologies is helpful for developing effective strategies to manage the crisis and diminish hostility toward particular groups caused by polarization. Social media, such as Twitter, provide platforms for the public's COVID-related discourse to form, accumulate, and visibly present. Meanwhile, those features also make social media a window to monitor the public responses in real-time. This research conducted a computational text analysis of 2,918,376 tweets sent by 829,686 different U.S. users regarding COVID-19 from January 24 to May 25, 2020. Results indicate that the public's crisis attribution and attitude toward governmental crisis responses are driven by their political identities. One crisis factor identified by this study (i.e., threat level) also affects the public's attribution and attitude polarization. Additionally, we note that pandemic fatigue was identified in our findings as early as in March 2020. This study has theoretical, practical, and methodological implications informing further health communication in a heated political environment. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Social Science Computer Review is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

TEST ON JUDICIAL ACTIVISM IN SOCIETY IN A CRISIS AGGRAVATED BY PANDEMIA: NECESSARY REFLECTIONS ON RECOMMENDATION 62/2020, NATIONAL COUNCIL OF JUSTICE (CNJ)

After experiences of significant violations of the essential rights to the person as a human being that marked, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries, taking as a landmark the post-World War II, there is an expansion of rights and instruments for their effectiveness, both internally, or international. In this context, a different state stance was demanded: of power centered on an authoritarian monarch followed by the non-interventionist to the State of Social Welfare where the promotion, expansion and instrumentation of rights became essential. In Brazil, with the democratization of the country and the promulgation of a Constitution, the essential foundation of which is the dignity of the human person, the realization of fundamental rights and the respect for separation come to permeate the entire legal system. In that same step, before the legislative option of providing for indeterminate legal concepts plus the "doctrine of the enforcement of fundamental rights”, it allowed the judicial protagonism to expand in the country, more commonly called "judicial activism” which, a priori, has a negative and needs to be contained. With the social and economic crisis aggravated by the covid-19 pandemic, this activist role of the Judiciary is also present, so reflections need to be made. Thus, the present study will be dedicated to the analysis of judicial activism in the context of a pandemic crisis, pointing out positive and negative aspects, based on a qualified doctrinal review and Recommendation 62/2020, by CNJ. © 2022, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. All rights reserved.

DEMOCRACY AMID CRISES: Polarization, Pandemic, Protests, and Persuasion

Among the more fraught election years in recent history, 2020 transpired amid four interlaced crises: the COVID-19 pandemic, an economic recession and uneven recovery, a racial reckoning, and a crisis of democratic legitimacy that culminated in the riot at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and widespread belief among Republicans that the election had been stolen from Donald Trump. Democracy amid Crises explains how these forces and the media messaging through which they were filtered shaped the election and post-election dialogue, as well as voter perceptions of both, with worrisome potential consequences for democracy. The book spotlights not one but several electorates, each embedded in a distinctive informational environment. The four crises affected these electorates differently, partly because the unique constellations of media in which they were advertently and inadvertently enmeshed contained dissimilar messages from the campaigns and other sources of influence. Awash in distinctive message streams, the various electorates adopted divergent perspectives on the crises, candidates, and state of the country. As a result, understanding voting behavior and attitudes about the events that followed requires an analysis of both the distinctive electorates and the informational environments that enveloped them. Importantly, our findings raise fundamental questions about the nation's future, occasioned by the contest over whether the 2020 presidential election was fairly and freely decided and by worrisome responses to the reality that the country's citizenry is becoming more multiracial, multiethnic, and, on matters religious, agnostic. © Oxford University Press 2023.

'Brexit put us in the Fridge, Covid in the Freezer': The Impact of Covid-19 and Brexit on UK Freelance Dance Artists

This article investigates how Covid-19 and Brexit have impacted the practices, finances and wellbeing of UK dance professionals, drawing on first-hand data collected in early 2021 from interviews, questionnaires and a panel discussion. The testimonies of freelance practitioners from different backgrounds, as well as key stakeholders from national institutions and organisations employing or otherwise interacting with freelancers, present bottom-up insights from the scene. Our research project more specifically explored the ramifications of the pandemic and Brexit, and the impact of these crises on the diversity of the UK dance scene (broadly construed). The voices and findings presented are framed by a discussion of the economic and political infrastructure of the so-called 'creative industries' in the country, with particular attention to the freelance creative labour model, risk and precarity. The article concludes by proposing a politics of small resistive steps which might help to mitigate these challenges, working from within the dance ecosystem. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Dance Research is the property of Edinburgh University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

The Geomagnetic Regional Model in Indonesia for Epoch 2020.0

: The geomagnetic field at the earth's surface changes over time, including in Indonesia. An accurate regional geomagnetic model is needed. Indonesia conducted just 49 repeat station measurements (out of 68) in epoch 2020.0 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The regional geomagnetic field was modeled using the collocated cokriging (CC) method, which is proven to be accurate. The results show high accuracy with 1.18 minutes root mean square error (RMSE) for the declination component (D), 11.1 minutes for the inclination component (I), and 36.6 nT for the total intensity component (F). This RMSE indicates a similar result to epoch 2015.0. It is apparent that the problem of fewer data for epoch 2020.0 has been solved using the CC method. The crustal geomagnetic fields are also modeled by combining repeat station data and an enhanced magnetic model (EMM). The crustal field model illustrates that 94% of repeat stations exist in the low values, contributing to global geomagnetic modeling in the future. The low crustal field values have also correlated with great earthquake epicenters (magnitude ≥6). The earthquakes occurred in the crustal field values under 120 nT from 2010 to 2020. © 2023, Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.

Opening industry data: The private sector's role in addressing societal challenges

This commentary explores the potential of private companies to advance scientific progress and solve social challenges through opening and sharing their data. Open data can accelerate scientific discoveries, foster collaboration, and promote long-term business success. However, concerns regarding data privacy and security can hinder data sharing. Companies have options to mitigate the challenges through developing data governance mechanisms, collaborating with stakeholders, communicating the benefits, and creating incentives for data sharing, among others. Ultimately, open data has immense potential to drive positive social impact and business value, and companies can explore solutions for their specific circumstances and tailor them to their specific needs.

Presidential elections during the pandemic

The presidential election held in 2020 was special due to the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, as the electoral process took place in several unusual stages. The first stage was based on the assumption that a standard electoral process would suffice to perform the election. In the second stage, an attempt was made to organise the election by postal voting. The third stage resulted from the failure to hold the vote on the originally scheduled date (10 May 2020). The fourth stage was to hold the electoral process on a new date (28 June 2020). The extraordinary circumstances under which the election took place revealed previously unknown aspects in the application of the law. The paper aims at describing different stages of the process as well as identifying legal problems that were exposed during the elections. The systematics of the article is based on a chronology of events.

The Covid-19 pandemic and the STJ decisions on maternity and preventive detention

The article brings the results of quantitative-qualitative research of the jurisprudence of the Superior Court of Justice on granting house arrest to pregnant women, mothers, or guardians of children under 12 years old before and during the Covid-19 pandemic, with CNJ Recommendation 62/2020 as a landmark. Through grounded theory, we identified a continuity in the denials of conversions based on "extremely exceptional situations ", linked to the practice of drug trafficking, even in the face of the serious global health crisis of Covid-19.

Opportunistic oppression: U.S. migration restrictions and public health policy during the COVID-19 pandemic

As the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world in Spring 2020, the Trump administration invoked war against the coronavirus to severely restrict admission of migrants and asylum seekers into the United States. At the same time, it declined to enact national measures to control viral community spread and sharply criticised public health policies. We analyse this notable inconsistency as a case of opportunistic oppression whereby policymakers take advantage of a crisis to pursue pre-existing, and often unrelated, policy preferences. We identify how the securitisation of health and the crisis-enabled politics of enmity allowed the Trump administration to cynically erode migrant human rights protections while simultaneously failing to contain the pandemic. Opportunistic oppression represents an attractive strategy for states facing real and imagined emergencies to pursue political agendas that are not necessarily part of a coherent and effective response to the crisis at hand. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of International Journal of Human Rights is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

How the Rules of no.11/POJK.03/2020 Banking Restructuring Policy Improve Financial Performance? (Empirical Study of Islamic Banks in Indonesia)

The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the economy, including the banking industry. The im-pact on the banking industry is a decline in the health of banks. One form of bank soundness assessment can be seen from the movement of financial ratios, including Non-Performing Financing (NPF), Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR), Return on Assets (RoA), and Operational Expenditure to Operating Income (BOPO), and Financing to Deposits Ra-tio (FDR). This study aimed to examine the impact of the implementation of banking restructuring policies on the fi-nancial performance of Islamic Commercial Banks in Indonesia. This study used an observation period of 36 months, calculated 1 year before and after the implementation of rules No.11/POJK.03/2020. The sampling method used purposive sampling with 119 observational data samples. Hypothesis testing used the independent Mann-Whitney t-test since the data were not normally distributed. The results showed that the banking restructuring policy could only improve the bank's financial performance, namely CAR and FDR, but not the ratio of NPF, ROA, and BOPO. The contribution of this study can be used as one of the basics for assessing the effectiveness of implement-ing government policies. Copyright © 2022- All Rights Reserved.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: Presidential Tweets, the U.S.–U.K. Free Trade Agreement, Humanitarian Intervention, and China's Bilateral Relations

" Words Matter: Presidents Obama and Trump, Twitter, and U.S. Soft Power. Graph [9] concentrate on the issues that soured the initial optimism for a U.S.-U.K. free trade agreement between President Trump and Prime Minister Johnson which did not come to its planned fruition by 2020. EN Social Media Foreign Policy Twitter Soft Power Obama Trump Boris Johnson Humanitarian Intervention President Clinton Bosnia Kosovo China Sri-Lanka Kazakhstan South Korea ASEAN Sub-Saharan Africa Information Technology. NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: Presidential Tweets, the U.S.-U.K. Free Trade Agreement, Humanitarian Intervention, and China's Bilateral Relations. [Extracted from the article] Copyright of World Affairs is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

INVESTIGATING ANTIGENIC FEATURES OF THE SARS-CoV-2 ISOLATED IN RUSSIAN FEDERATION IN 2021-2022 BY HYPERIMMUNE MOUSE SERUM NEUTRALISATION.

Introduction. The rapid spread of a new coronavirus infection among populations in many countries worldwide has contributed to the genetic evolution of the virus, resulting in the emergence of multiple genetic variants of the SARSCoV-2 coronavirus. Mutations in the viral genome can affect the ability of the virus to bypass the immune system and complicate development of diagnostic and prophylactic drugs. Data on the neutralizing activity of the sera obtained against previously circulating genetic variants of the virus in relation to current SARS-CoV-2 strains may serve as a scientific basis for the selection of the antigens in vaccine development. The aim of this work was to study cross-reactivity of SARSCoV-2 coronavirus strains belonging to different genetic variants, which were isolated in the territory of the Russian Federation during 2020-2022 in the neutralization reaction using mouse hyperimmune sera. Materials and methods. Ten strains of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus belonging to different genetic variants were used (three non-VOC strains, alpha, beta, gamma, delta, delta+AY, omicron 1 and omicron 2). The hCoV-19/Australia/VIC01/2020 strain (Wuhan) was included in the study as a prototypical variant. BALBc mice were immunized with inactivated concentrated antigen mixed with a 1:1 adjuvant, which was a virus-like immunostimulatory complex based on Quillaja saponaria (Quillaja saponaria). The antibody titer was determined in the neutralization reaction. Results. Essential decrease of neutralizing ability of antibodies specific to non-vOC genetic variants of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus was revealed against beta VOC and to a lesser degree against alpha and gamma VOC variants. The differences in the neutralizing activity level of antibodies for alpha and beta VOC variants are not significant among themselves, and with gamma VOC variants - there are no significant differences. Neutralizing ability of antibodies specific to delta VOC against alpha and beta VOC variants decreased 4-fold. Neutralizing activity of sera obtained to omicron 1 and 2 variants in relation to the prototype coronavirus variant was reduced 18-fold, to the gamma variant - 12-fold, to delta variants - more than 30-fold;for other variants it was even lower. Conclusions. The results obtained testify to the presence of cross-reactivity between strains of coronavirus belonging to genetic lines Wuhan, alpha, beta, gamma;it is weaker for delta variants. Mutations in the genome of VOC omicron variants led to a significant decrease in antigenic cross-links with earlier genetic variants of the coronavirus. These findings explain the low efficacy of vaccines based on the Wuhan strain, synthetic immunogens, and recombinant proteins based on it against omicron VOC variants, which have caused a rise in morbidity since early 2022, as well as cases of re-infection of humans with new genetic variants of the coronavirus.Copyright © 2023 Saint Petersburg Pasteur Institute. All rights reserved.

DATA ANALYTIC TOOLS RELATING TO SELECTED COVID-19 PANDEMIC FRAUDS

This research provides information related to the use of data analytic tools for preventing and detecting COVID-19 pandemic frauds. The IRS-CI (Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation) Agency continues to conduct investigations involving billions with these frauds. With the data analytic tools, people can be stopped from fraudulently taking advantage the government during critical life or death times.

cGAS-STING PATHWAY LIMITS SARS-CoV-2 REPLICATION IN ACE2+ AIRWAY CELL LINES

Background: We previously screened 10 human lung and upper airway cell lines expressing variable levels of endogenous ACE2/TMPRSS2. We found that H522 human lung adenocarcinoma cells supported SARS-CoV-2 replication independent of ACE2, whereas the ACE2 positive cell lines were not permissive to infection. Type I/III interferons (IFNs) potently restrict SARS-CoV-2 replication through the actions of hundreds of interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) that are upregulated upon IFN signaling. Here we report that a number of ACE2 positive airway cell lines are unable to support SARS-CoV-2 replication due to basal activation of the cGAS-STING DNA sensing pathway and subsequent upregulation of IFNs and ISGs which restrict SARS-CoV-2 replication. Method(s): SARS-CoV-2 WT strain 2019-nCoV/USA-WA1/2020 viral replication was detected through analysis of cell associated RNA. RNA sequencing was used to study the basal level of genes in the type-I IFN pathway in the 10 cell lines, which was further validated by western blotting and qRT-PCR. A panel of 5 cell lines, with varying expression levels of ACE2 and TMPRSS2, were pre-treated with Ruxolitinib, a JAK1/2 inhibitor. A siRNA-mediated screen was used to determine the molecular basis of basally high expression of ISGs in cell lines. CRISPR knockout of IFN-alpha receptor and cGAS-STING pathway components was conducted in parallel Results: Here we show that higher basal levels of IFN pathway activity underlie the inability of ACE2+ cell lines to support virus replication. Importantly, this IFN-induced block can be overcome by chemical inhibition and genetic disruption of the IFN signaling pathway or by ACE2 overexpression, suggesting that one or more saturable ISGs underlie the lack of permissivity of these cells. Ruxolitinib treatment increased SARS-CoV-2 RNA levels by nearly 3 logs in OE21 and SCC25. Furthermore, the baseline activation of the STING-cGAS pathway accounts for the high ISG levels and genetic disruption of the cGAS-STING pathway enhances levels by nearly 2 and 3 logs of virus replication in the two separate ACE2+ cell line models respectively. Conclusion(s): Our findings demonstrate that cGAS-STING-dependent activation of IFN-mediated innate immunity underlies the inability of ACE2+ airway cell lines to support SARS-CoV-2 replication. Our study highlights that in addition to ACE2, basal activation of cGAS-STING pathway, IFNs and ISGs may play a key role in defining SARS-CoV-2 cellular tropism and may explain the complex SARS-CoV- 2 pathogenesis in vivo.

Teaching controversial issues during a presidential election: Exploring how teachers navigated polarized politics in 2020

American politics today is the culmination of historical, political, social, geographic, and economic events that have significantly impacted this country. Over the last year, America and the world have been tested to political, social, and economic extremes not seen in over a century because of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Both the 2020 Presidential election and the storming of the Capitol on January 6th, 2021 are just two of the events that challenged teachers and educators across all levels of schooling to change and adapt teaching practices. It has forced citizens to have difficult conversations about democracy, equality, health, and safety. Educators tasked with teaching government and civics are required to teach political parties and the functions of government. However, in this current socially distant and polarized political climate, doing so was tremendously difficult. For some high school students and teachers, teaching secondary government is only a nine-week crash course into the functions of the government and rights outlined to students. Nine weeks to teach the functions of government, Constitution, rights of citizens, powers of the president, courts, and how federalism and states interact. Furthermore, only a small minority of students who take government courses do so during a presidential election cycle. This reality underscores the importance of understanding how teachers help students navigate such an important function of government. In this polarized political climate post-2016, it is of interest to study how teachers have prepared to teach the election and document their experience navigating campaign issues. This study hopes to shed light on the educational strategies and expectations of secondary government and civics teachers teaching controversial political topics surrounding the 2020 election. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

The 2020/2021 Tokyo Olympics: Does Japan get the gold medal or the wooden spoon?

The Tokyo 2020/2021 Olympics will go down in history as the 'Pandemic Games'. Postponed by a year due to Covid-19, they were eventually held despite broad public protest and amidst the Delta variant wave. Japan brought home a record haul of medals, yet Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide resigned in ignominy shortly after the Games ended. So, was Tokyo 2020/2021 a 'success' or a 'failure', and for whom? We examine the policy and politics of the Games, considering the attribution of 'success' and 'failure' to the Olympics across a range of issues, actors, and narratives. Reviewing their economic, public health, soft power, and political impact, we find that the Tokyo 2020/2021 Olympics remain deeply ambiguous. Prime Minister Abe Shinzō's vision of a proud, 'reborn' Japan showcasing itself to the world obviously did not come to pass;neither did the promise of a 'Recovery Olympics' aiding in the reconstruction of the post-3/11 Tohoku region. Conversely, the predictions of a COVID-19 catastrophe, of even an 'Olympic variant', also failed to transpire. Rather, the Olympics became a pared-down event forced through by vested interests, notably the IOC and Dentsu. The political fallout was contained by one-party dominance in Japan's democracy, where even a forced mega-event during a pandemic was insufficient to threaten the Liberal Democratic Party's stranglehold on power. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

FRAUDS DO NOT PAUSE FOR A PANDEMIC

The COVID-19 pandemic has created global hardship on individuals and businesses alike. This paper provides a brief history of the frauds and scams discovered over the pandemic period of 2020 through 2022. During this difficult period, fraudsters continued to wreak havoc using trickery and deception to cause financial harm to both individuals and businesses. This paper begins with a brief examination of the COVID-19 timeline and various agencies definitions of fraud. Next, the authors discuss key pieces of legislation passed during the COVID-19 years. The final portion of this paper contains a brief summary of various pandemic-era frauds including an examination of the first COVID-19 fraud that was discovered in 2020. Several material frauds from 2020 through 2022 will conclude the review.

TARGETING THE HOST-VIRUS INTERFACE TO BLOCK SARS-CoV-2 ASSEMBLY IN AIRWAY CELLS

Background: The rapid emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant that evades many therapies illustrates the need for antiviral treatments with high genetic barriers to resistance. The small molecule PAV-104, identified through a moderate-throughput screen involving cell-free protein synthesis, was recently shown to target a subset of host protein assembly machinery in a manner specific to viral assembly with minimal host toxicity. The chemotype shows broad activity against respiratory viral pathogens, including Orthomyxoviridae, Paramyxoviridae, Adenoviridae, Herpesviridae, and Picornaviridae, with low susceptibility to evolutionary escape. Here, we investigated the capacity of PAV-104 to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication in human airway epithelial cells (AECs). Method(s): Dose-dependent cytotoxicity of PAV-104 in Calu-3 cells was determined by MTT assay. Calu-3 cells were infected with SARS-CoV-2 isolate USA-WA1/2020 (MOI=0.01). Primary AECs were isolated from healthy donor lung transplant tissue, cultured at air liquid interface (ALI), and infected with SARS-CoV-2 Gamma, Delta, and Omicron variants (MOI=0.1). SARS-CoV-2 replication was assessed by RT-PCR quantitation of the N gene, immunofluorescence assay (IFA) of nucleocapsid (N) protein, and titration of supernatant (TCID50). Transient co-expression of four SARS-CoV-2 structural proteins (N, M, S, E) to produce virus-like particles (VLPs) was used to study the effect of PAV-104 on viral assembly. Drug resin affinity chromatography was performed to study the interaction between PAV-104 and N. Glycerol gradient sedimentation was used to assess N oligomerization. Total RNA-seq and the REACTOME database were used to evaluate PAV-104 effects on the host transcriptome. Result(s): PAV-104 reached 50% cytotoxicity in Calu-3 cells at 3732 nM (Fig.1A). 50 nM PAV-104 inhibited >99% of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Calu-3 cells (p< 0.01) and in primary AECs (p< 0.01) (Fig.1B-E). PAV-104 specifically inhibited SARS-CoV-2 post entry, and suppressed production of SARS-CoV-2 VLPs without affecting viral protein synthesis. PAV-104 interacted with SARS-CoV-2 N and interfered with N oligomerization. Transcriptome analysis revealed that PAV-104 treatment reversed SARS-CoV-2 induction of the interferon and maturation of nucleoprotein signaling pathways. Conclusion(s): PAV-104 is a pan-respiratory virus small molecule inhibitor with promising activity against SARS-CoV-2 in human airway epithelial cells that should be explored in animal models and clinical studies.

The Public Library "Bora Stankovic" in Vranje and the COVID-19 Pandemic

The previous year was marked by the challenges imposed by the covid-19 pandemic and epidemiological measures that significantly hindered the regular functioning of all segments of our life and work. Libraries around the world have closed their doors to limit virus transmission and preserve human health. What hasn't stopped and shut down is finding ways to preserve users and provide key services. Librarians have strengthened and focused on their essential role of serving the public, acting responsibly and reinforcing their unwavering commitment to, more than ever, providing users with the infrastructure to openly access information, collections, and meet the new demands of their community. The aim of this paper is to look at the position and functioning of public libraries during the coronavirus pandemic, with special emphasis on the activities of the "Bora Stankovic" Library in Vranje. Vranje librarians overcame the new challenges and, despite the unenviable situation, adjusted their programs to the "new normality", continued to provide their services, and successfully implemented content, among which the most important is certainly the implementation of the Biblionet 2020 in our city.

The Right to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly during the Covid-19 Pandemic in the Light of Echr Standards

The COVID-19 crisis confronted states with the challenge of finding an immediate balance between public health measures and the principles of the rule of law. The rapid spread of the virus associated with the severe consequences on human health and life required prompt action, without the necessary scientific evidence to assess the effectiveness of the measures taken. Being faced with such a situation, numerous countries opted for drastic measures, like lock down and the restriction of some fundamental human rights and freedoms. This paper analyses the freedom of peaceful assembly during the COVID-19 pandemic in Albania, addressing the research question of whether and to what extent the response of the Albanian government to the COVID-19 pandemic was in compliance with the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). In this attempt, it will briefly introduce the measures taken by the Albanian government in the face of the situation and their impact. Following, it will focus on the recent decision of the Constitutional Court of Albania (D-11/21) in relation to the constitutionality of Order 633/2020 of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection which restricted the right of assembly. It will also analyze the extensively-discussed Order 633/2020 in the light of the ECHR and EU standards. The paper concludes that the measures taken by the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of Albanian lacked clarity on ratio legis and most importantly, information on how these measures would be implemented and to what extent they would restrict human rights.