In some Member States, there were reports of intolerance and discrimination on the grounds of health status and of nationality. In Slovenia, cases were reported of patients released from hospitals not returning to their homes for fear of hostility and intolerance from their neighbours.200 The Human Rights Ombudsman and the Advocate of the Principle of Equality warned against stigmatisation of and intolerance against individuals who contracted the infection.201 In Romania, a complaint was filed against a TV show which discussed in a discriminatory manner the situation of Romanians who decide to return to Romania after working abroad.202 The Latvian Centre for Human Rights has noted rising hate speech against Latvian nationals repatriating from abroad due to COVID-19.203 3.3 XENOPHOBIC STATEMENTS BY POLITICIANS AND PUBLIC FIGURES Politicians and public authorities have a special responsibility in times of crisis. Their statements can convey a message of social cohesion and solidarity or stir xenophobic feelings, for example by linking COVID-19 to certain minority groups and/or migration. In Czechia, a renowned medical authority said that the virus was nature’s solution for overpopulation in China and that Chinese people are responsible for the pandemic due to unhygienic food-consumption practices in China.204 A Spanish member of parliament and secretary general of the political party ‘Vox’ (after testing positive for COVID-19) stated that “his Spanish antibodies” would defeat the “damned Chinese virus”.205 Other examples include politicians linking immigration to the COVID-19 outbreaks in Hungary206, Denmark207 and Slovakia, where the leader of the political party Peoples’ party – Our Slovakia stated that “due to the open borders within the EU […], there are many migrants wandering across Europe without any control. And those people brought the coronavirus to Europe.”208 In contrast, some political authorities have countered xenophobic rumours and incidents. The Croatian Ministry of Interior responded to rumours about asylum seekers allegedly spreading COVID-19 by clarifying that asylum seekers residing in Croatian shelters were not infected.209 The Spanish government condemned in a press statement any manifestation of xenophobia linked to COVID-19.210 35