Virus quarantines must be 'proportionate', respect rights: UN

Countries should only use quarantine against the deadly new coronavirus when truly needed, and must respect the rights of those in isolation, the UN rights chief said Thursday.

Addressing the UN Human Rights Council, Michelle Bachelet hailed the medical teams around the world working to rein in the COVID-19 outbreak that has killed more than 2,700 people and infected more than 80,000 worldwide.

But she said that respec for human rights needed to guide the response. "All public health measures should be carried out without discrimination of any kind," the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said.

She said the ongoing epidemic, which began in China, had "set off a disturbing wave of prejudice against people of Chinese and East Asian ethnicity".

In particular, Bachelet voiced concern about widespread use of quarantine to halt the spread of the virus.

"Quarantines which restrict the right to freedom of movement should be proportionate to the risk, time-bound and safe," she said.

"The rights of those under quarantine must be protected, including rights to food and clean water, the right to be treated humanely, access to health care, the right to be informed and freedom of expression."