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The purpose of this paper is to describe restrictions on freedoms of expression and press that have arisen during the coronavirus pandemic and to show the public health impact of these restrictions.

General PubMed and Google searches were used to review human rights violations both historically and during the current coronavirus pandemic. Special attention was paid to publications produced by groups dedicated to monitoring human rights abuses.

During the coronavirus pandemic, many governments have used the guise of controlling the virus to silence critics and stifle the press. Though these restrictions were supposedly orchestrated to fight the virus, they have done just the opposite: suppression of expression and press has hindered public health efforts and exacerbated the spread of the virus. By reducing case reporting, allowing for the spread of misinformation and blocking productive debate, violations of human rights to free expression and press have worsened the coronavirus outbreak.

This study shows the ways in which human rights are both threatened and particularly important in crises.

The purpose of this paper is to explore public assumptions underlying the apparent disregard for the lives of older people during the coronavirus outbreak. It attempts to dispel myths about quality of life among older people.

This paper integrates the author’s personal experiences as a doctor with data collection, which involved general PubMed searches for articles relating to the public response to the effect of coronavirus on older people; beliefs about the lives of older people; and issues of happiness, contentedness and quality of life in older people.

Some people have concluded that the lives of older people – which they believe to be of low quality – are worth risking to lessen the economic impact of coronavirus. This morbid calculation is based in part on the assumption that older people are less happy than younger people. In fact, the evidence shows that as people get older, they become significantly happier.

This paper asks readers to explore their assumptions about ageing and reaffirms the importance of protecting older people in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.