There is a remarkable consensus among analysts that government responses to the new coronavirus pandemic are disrupting civil society around the world. This article aims to provide a concise overview of the COVID-19 impact on civil society restriction worldwide. Further, we discuss ways to tackle this challenge. Its original contribution stems in its multidimensional analysis and investigating some of the nuances that are often overlooked in the current economic and policy debate. In the context of the new development paradigm, this has a crucial impact on local development trends, as well as on the provision of social services and public goods. We argue that, although civil society may play an important role in shaping countries social justice and economic development leaders’ choice of policies related to coronavirus undermine civic space around the world. Such development should be human in scale and form, sustainable in terms of livelihoods and environment, equitable and socially inclusive, and initiated in a participatory manner "from below" and "from within" civil society as opposed to "from above" (local authorities) and "from outside" (international aid).