COVID-19, Quarantines, Sheltering-in-Place, and Human Rights: The Developing Crisis

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2020 Aug;103(2):578-580. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.20-0528. Epub 2020 Jun 5.

Abstract

As COVID-19 has spread across the globe, quarantines and sheltering-in-place orders have become important public health tools but, as currently implemented, have eroded human rights, particularly for the marginalized, including essential workers, detainees, women, and children. Quarantines and sheltering-in-place orders must include explicit guarantees of human rights protections. We outline protections for the quarantined that communities and governments should strive to guarantee.

MeSH terms

  • Betacoronavirus
  • COVID-19
  • Child
  • Coronavirus Infections / epidemiology*
  • Coronavirus Infections / prevention & control
  • Female
  • Human Rights*
  • Humans
  • Pandemics / prevention & control
  • Pneumonia, Viral / epidemiology*
  • Pneumonia, Viral / prevention & control
  • Prisoners
  • Quarantine*
  • Refugees
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Safety
  • Vulnerable Populations
  • Women
  • Workforce