ABSTRACT
Studies written at the beginning of the pandemic consistently showed that governments’ efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, regardless of intent, often worsened human rights conditions for millions of people globally in both expected and unexpected ways. Enough time has passed to allow us to assess the state of human rights under COVID-19 in a longer period than did the early literature on COVID-19 and human rights. More work needs to be done on a variety of topics, including on the experiences of the Global South. Our hope is that this special issue will pave the way toward more holistic, cohesive, and realistic assessments of the impact of COVID-19 on human rights. Much has been written on the impact of COVID-19 on human rights since it first emerged in early spring 2020. This literature demonstrated that the pandemic has had a profoundly negative effect on human rights for people across the globe in many varied contexts.
