A pandemic is serious and in a public health emergency, drastic containment measures are unavoidable. Even by this token, however, a total lock down has been widely seen as ‘the harshest corona virus containment measure in the world.’ We may assume that this was necessary for containment of Covid-19 for the preservation of public health and that the lock down was evidence-based. With the increasing number of people testing positive, the rise in fatalities, and demands for increased and aggressive testing, the medical, scientific and health establishments are under enormous pressure to meet the growing care needs while being inadequately protected themselves. In a climate of fear, panic and uneven access to healthcare facilities, they are rendered totally vulnerable to vigilantism and physical attack. There are dimensions of justice, human rights and constitutionalism that need to guide governments when there is a public health emergency as with Covid-19. The focus has to be on the right to health, empathy for the working poor and ethical state practice.