This page brings together information and guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations regarding the current outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) that was first reported in Wuhan, China, on 31 December 2019. Please visit this page for daily updates. WHO is working closely with global experts, governments and partners to rapidly expand scientific knowledge on this new virus, to track the spread and virulence of the virus, and to provide advice to countries and individuals on measures to protect health and prevent the spread of this outbreak.
Coronavirus global health emergency: Coverage from UN News
'Everyone at risk’ as coronavirus cases tick up among migrants and refugees sheltering in Greece
With 23 migrants at an open accommodation site in central Greece testing positive for COVID-19, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) sounded the alarm on Thursday over conditions in crowded reception centres on five Greek islands where the virus risks taking hold.
COVID-19 crisis ‘unlike any we have dealt with’, as new tragedy looms for Syria
The risk of the COVID-19 pandemic having a devastating impact on war-torn Syria is intensifying, where six million are displaced, living in conditions that make them particularly vulnerable to the deadly virus, the Senior Humanitarian Advisor to the UN Special Envoy to Syria warned on Thursday.
India: Migrant workers' plight prompts UN call for ‘domestic solidarity’ in coronavirus battle
Pervasive challenges remain for hundreds-of-thousands of migrant workers in India whose lives were upended by the sudden lockdown across the country, in response to the threat of the coronavirus pandemic, said the UN human rights chief on Thursday.
Burkina Faso crisis and COVID-19 concerns highlight pressure on Sahel food security
Food insecurity levels in the Sahel region are “spiralling out of control”, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Thursday, as it expressed concerns about the potential impact on humanitarian supply chains because of restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 should not herald rollback in rights for people with autism: UN chief
The rights of persons with autism must be taken into account in efforts to address the COVID-19 coronavirus: “a public health crisis unlike any other in our lifetimes”, the UN Secretary-General said on Thursday.
Key COP26 climate summit postponed to ‘safeguard lives’
With no end in sight to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the UN climate change talks which were due to take place in Scotland later in the year, have been postponed until next year.
DR Congo may soon see off Ebola, but COVID-19 exposes old problems
Imagine you’re an aid official in a massive developing country where COVID-19 is just the latest in a long list of life-threatening challenges to millions of people. The question is: what do you do first?
In an interview with UN News’s Daniel Johnson by Skype, UNICEF’s representative in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Edouard Beigbeder, explains what his priorities are and what kind of threat the new coronavirus poses so far.