The UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent has expressed concern about systemic racism during the coronavirus pandemic and has urged governments to end police impunity.

​On 15th September 2020, the Romanian government extended the state of alert for 30 days due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Despite the extended state of alarm, the coronavirus infection rate in Spain continues to rise at an accelerating rate. On 12th March 2021, the country scored second on the list of European countries with the highest number of COVID-19 cases.

As the number of people in intensive care is steadily dropping in Belgium, previous strict COVID-19 measures are being lifted.

On 12th April 2021, Czech Republic lifted the state of emergency imposed in October 2020 to combat the COVID-19 epidemic. Nevertheless, most of the coronavirus provisions remained in force, among them a limit on public gatherings.

In Romania, just as in many other European countries, the decreasing number of coronavirus infections and hospitalisations led to the easing of COVID-19 related measures in late Spring, June 2021.

In Greece, as in many other European countries, coronavirus infections are on the rise again due to the spread of a more contagious (“Delta”) variant of the virus.

Due to steeply rising coronavirus cases, the Belgian government has tightened COVID-19 measures such as mask requirements, which had been relaxed in some regions earlier in October 2021.

In this tracker, the Civil Liberties Union for Europe collects the most important developments around COVID-19 passes, with a special emphasis on human rights concerns.

The UN established 21 March as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. This year, the media is in thrall to a pandemic that is ravaging the world and occupying the centre of social interest.