Abstract
Renewed interest in the ethics of quarantines as a response to the challenges imposed by pandemic outbreak attempts to diminish the tension embedded in the pandemic management between public good and civil liberties. This paper suggests that Rawls’ theory can benefit through critical engagement with the concept of reciprocal altruism as a proper response to the argument raised by quarantines’ opponents as to when and where it is fair to concentrate the burdens associated with confinement to quarantines. Drawing on concrete examples of COVID-19 pandemic management, this paper explores how altruism can enhance public trust and an informed community participation.

Keywords: Quarantine, Pandemic Management, Distributive Justice, Reciprocity, Rawls, COVID-19.