THE UN secretary-general has warned “humankind is at stake” and that millions of people across the world could die as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
Antonio Guterres said the pandemic was by far the worst global crisis since the Second World War and urged nations to work together.
Taking questions from journalists at the UN headquarters in New York, he was asked to give an assessment of the severity of the situation facing the world.
He said: “It is a combination, on the one hand, of a disease that represents a threat to everybody in the world, and second, because it has an economic impact that will bring a recession that probably, there is no parallel in the recent past.
“The combination of the two facts and the risk that it probably would enhance instability, enhance unrest and enhance conflict are things that make us believe it is indeed the most challenging crisis we have faced since the Second World War.
“And one that needs a stronger and more effective response that is only possible in solidarity if everybody comes together, and if we forgot political games and understand it is humankind that is at stake.”
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Guterres underlined that wealthy countries needed to help developing nations both as an act of humanity, but also because if the pandemic gripped the global south it would claims millions of lives and risked returning to countries which had previously suppressed the virus in a second wave.
He said: “It is essential that developed countries immediately assist those less developed to bolster their health systems and their response capacity to stop transmission.
“Otherwise, we face the nightmare of the disease spreading like wildfire in the global south with millions of deaths and the prospect of the disease re-emerging where it was previously suppressed.”
More than 40,000 people have died so far as the disease spreads across the world and causes economic devastation.
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