Coronavirus pandemic fast becoming a 'human rights crisis', UN chief warns

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Thursday that the coronavirus pandemic was becoming "a human rights crisis", Euronews reports.

In a video message, the UN chief said that there is discrimination in the delivery of public services to tackle COVID-19 and "structural inequalities that impede access to them."

The pandemic has also seen "disproportionate effects on certain communities, the rise of hate speech, the targeting of vulnerable groups, and the risks of heavy-handed security responses undermining the health response," Guterres said.

"[With] rising ethno-nationalism, populism, authoritarianism and a push back against human rights in some countries, the crisis can provide a pretext to adopt repressive measures for purposes unrelated to the pandemic," he warned.

In February, Guterres issued a call to action to countries, businesses and people to protect human rights, laying out a seven-point plan amid concerns about climate change and conflict.

"As I said then, human rights cannot be an afterthought in times of crisis - and we now face the biggest international crisis in generations," he said.