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
UN condemns killing of WHO staffer in Myanmar transporting COVID-19 samples
A World Health Organization (WHO) worker has been killed while driving a vehicle carrying COVID-19 samples in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state, the United Nations country office confirmed in a statement on Tuesday.
COVID-19 to cause biggest economic contraction ever in Latin America & Caribbean
The COVID-19 pandemic will herald the worst economic contraction in the history of Latin American and the Caribbean, with a projected -5.3 per cent drop in activity this year, according to a report by the UN office for the region, ECLAC, published on Tuesday.
Guterres vows support for island States in twin fight against COVID-19, climate crisis
In an era of new challenges wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic, Secretary-General António Guterres is pledging the UN’s continued support to small island States – longtime leaders in the global fight against the devastating impacts of climate change.
As famines of ‘biblical proportion’ loom, Security Council urged to ‘act fast’
The world is not only facing “a global health pandemic but also a global humanitarian catastrophe”, the UN food relief agency chief told the Security Council on Tuesday via video link.
Startling disparities in digital learning emerge as COVID-19 spreads: UN education agency
With most of the world’s students now at home due to COVID-19, the pandemic is revealing startling divides in digitally-based distance learning, data from the UN education and cultural agency, UNESCO, and partners has revealed.
Keep critical food supply chains operating to save lives during COVID-19, urges new UN-backed report
A new study on food insecurity by an alliance of UN, governmental, and non-governmental agencies analyzes what is fueling global food crises and examines how, among other emergencies, the COVID-19 pandemic is perpetuating downward cycle for millions.