Territorial traps in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is global in scope, yet responses to the pandemic have varied considerably by national context, thereby reinforcing what Agnew (1994) has called the ‘territorial trap’. This commentary extends geographical scholarship by considering three territorial traps at play in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic, mainly pertaining to the governance of international travel and migration, inter-state coordination, and territorial thinking.