II. THE POLICING OF ASSEMBLIES AND RISKS OF LESS-LETHAL WEAPONS 17. Between 16 March 2020 and 24 January 2021, the Omega Research Foundation mapped over 160 cases of alleged excessive use of force in the context of enforcing pandemic related measures or in response to protests arising from coronavirus-related concerns. Firearms, hand-held kinetic impact weapons, beatings and chemical irritants were used around the world more than 30 times each. Omega found that the use of force in these scenarios disproportionally affected people who were already experiencing intersecting discrimination. These findings align with the assessment of the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Killings with regards to states of emergency in the context of the pandemic. She noted that security measures “are increasing the vulnerability to police violence of particular groups and individuals, including poor people forced to go out to make a living, homeless men, women and children; women and children in situations of domestic violence; migrants and refugees; slum dwellers and all those who live a “hand to mouth” existence for whom daily economic activity is essential for daily survival”39. 18. It is also worth noting that, as documented by the Omega Research Foundation, the use of chemical irritants, including tear gas, in the midst of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, could increase the risk of infection given that irritants diminish the layers of mucus that protect the body from viruses, which may exacerbate respiratory problems and cause people to cough, sneeze and rub their eyes and face and to remove protective face masks40. 39. UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, arbitrary or summary executions, #Covid19 Human Rights Dispatch – Number 1. 40. O  mega Research Foundation, Position Paper: Lowering the Risk, Curtailing the Use of Chemical Irritants during the Covid-19 Pandemic, 2020, p.2. 8