The Philippines sends the police to search for those with the virus

President Rodrigo Duterte’s government has empowered the police to fan out home to home in search of infected people.

The move incited an uproar among human rights groups, which accused the government on Wednesday of employing repressive tactics.

The plan lets police officers accompany health workers in search of people who may be asymptomatic or have mild symptoms. Those who cannot meet the requirements for home quarantine — including having their own bathroom and not having older adults or pregnant people in the house — are to be taken to a private facility.

The health authorities are under tremendous pressure from a public increasingly wary of Mr. Duterte’s brutal anti-drugs tactics, which have left thousands dead.

The national outbreak: Infections in the Philippines are nearing 60,000. More than 1,600 people have died.