COVID19 AND HUMAN RIGHTS

• INTRODUCTION TO THE DISEASE  COVID 19: 

Coronavirus disease (Covid19) is an infectious  disease caused by SARS- CoV-2 Virus. Most people infected with the virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment.

However, some will become seriously ill and require some medical attention. Older people and those with underlying medical treatment conditions like cardiovascular disease, diabetic and chronic respiratory disease, or cancer are more likely to develop serious illnesses.  

The first case of Covid19 of pandemic was announced in  India on the 30^th of January, 2020 stemming from Wuhan, China. It started to affect a countable number and was declared a pandemic in the world. 

 After which, in furtherance, Prime Minister implemented s national wise lockdown for an indefinite about of time. Isolation and social distancing become a norm, educational institutions, and commercial establishments were shut down along with many offices, and companies resorted to working from home.  

So the best way to protect yourself and others from infection is to stay at least one metre away from the other person, wear 95 masks, and washing your hand regularly, and mainly get vaccinated and follow government guidance properly. 

Having no assurance as to when the situation will restore to normal, such restrictions imposed on humankind, attacked the roots of human rights.  Even during this time the government is compelled to protect human rights and ensures that every citizen has access to the necessities.

• Right to Health:

Universal Declaration of  Human Rights(UDHR),1948 talks about the right to health in Article 25 and it was again recognised as a human right in 1966 in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Article 12(1). 

• Right to Health forms an essential part of Human Rights:

In India, it was a difficult time and faces an acute crisis after the lockdown came into force. By the time the lockdown was in motion in March,  those in charge of respective States and the Union  Territories mostly shifted their focus on curtailing the pandemic and that means keeping the public safe in their homes and shutting down most of the hospitals, clinics and pharmacies. 

Therefore, the immunization schedules were cut back on and curbed outpatient and inpatient movement, an emergency treatment for serious patients, reduced laboratory experiments as well as less access to mental health treatment.

The data recovered from the report showed that there was a considerable drop in the delivery of calcium and iron supplements to pregnant women as well as a sharp fall in the medical operations concerning the delivery of children leading to the number of unattended home births shooting up. 

• Apart from this, the survey also revealed that child immunization hits in different ways and rock bottom at least one lakh approximately. 

• Children had not received their BCG( Bacille  Calmatte Guérin) a vaccine for Tuberculosis  (TB). 

• Another Two Lakh approximately missed the  Pentavalent Vaccine along with the Rotavurius vaccine. 

• Right To Access Information:

Article 19(1) of the  Indian Constitution deals with the freedom of speech and expression and also the right to information. Article 19 of the ICCPR(1966) also deals with the right to information. 

The right, to access information is regarded as one of the primary rights of an individual. The government should provide access to the right information concerning health problems, and cures as well as how to prevent them. The Indian government had satisfactorily spread authentic information about the disease, the precautions one needs to take as well as the threat it causes to human rights. 

The purpose behind this is only that its citizens can take the necessary health-related decision beforehand. 

• Right to Free Movement:

Article 13 of UDHR  deals with the right to freedom of movement and also Article 19(1)(d) of the Indian Constitution. 

The liberty to move around can only be limited under extraordinary circumstances. The restrictions need to be reasonable and in correspondence with the law. Since the lockdown,  various newspapers, television interviews as well as articles have featured that the plight of the migrant workers has deteriorated severely.

With the closing down of transportation and other modes of conveyance, along with losing their daily incomes, they were left with the prime option of walking several kilometres back to their villages. The news channels have reported the deaths of dozens of them on their way back home due to starvation or extreme physical strain. 

• Conclusion:

The criticism regarding the government’s actions is justified. The government needs to communicate properly with its people, which will help them to build trust and become more transparent about their actions. Human Rights cannot be treated as a luxury which should only be protected during a  crisis but should be upheld every day.

Implementing proper schemes, and making sure the basic rights are available to all citizens will in turn make them feel safe and cooperate with the government. 

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