Μή μου ἅπτου. Pandemia hafefobii

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the introduction of a sanitary regime with far-reaching restrictions on direct interpersonal contact. The need to cover the mouth and nose and social distancing have significantly affected communication. The touch, already recognised as a highly problematic medium, became a source of additional prohibitions. The need to ensure the safety of people most at risk of severe COVID-19, i.e. the elderly and chronically ill, contributed to their loneliness. On the one hand, the latter has long been a social disease; on the other hand, social distancing and reduced direct contact were to prevent the spread of the virus. These extraordinary circumstances have strengthened the haphephobic attitudes – the subject of interest of contemporary philosophy and art. In these areas, the unwanted legacy of the pandemic reveals itself not so much through changing the social reality as through reinforcing the previous divides, restrictions and conflicts. Consequently, the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that the community in its traditional sense does not exist and must be redefined as a concept.