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
Tap youth talent to tackle COVID-19 crisis and beyond, UN chief tells Security Council
Even amidst the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, countries must do more to harness the talents of young people to address the crisis and its aftermath, the UN Secretary-General told the Security Council on Monday during a videoconference meeting to review the five years since its adoption of a landmark resolution on youth, peace and security.
South Sudan: COVID-19 pandemic challenges add to existing crises
The COVID-19 pandemic is adversely affecting everyone, everywhere, with lockdown restrictions hitting the development and humanitarian relief sectors especially hard.
Aid deliveries across national borders are being hampered, posing an immediate threat to the United Nations’ efforts to provide vital assistance to end hunger and malnutrition.
FROM THE FIELD: How refugees are helping overwhelmed health systems' COVID-19 response
With many European health services struggling to deal with an influx of COVID-19 patients, many refugees and migrants with experience in the sector, are being drafted in to help respond to the crisis.
‘Toxic lockdown culture’ of repressive coronavirus measures hits most vulnerable
Disturbing details have emerged from dozens of countries that a “toxic lockdown culture” against the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted drastically on society’s most vulnerable members, the UN human rights Office (OHCHR) said on Monday. The development follows UN Secretary-General António Guterres’s call last week for States not to use the COVID crisis as a pretext for repressive measures, in which he urged Governments to recognize that the threat was the “virus, not people”.
Millions more children at risk with immunization services disrupted amid COVID-19 pandemic
Last year, over 13 million children received no vaccines at all, and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is calling on governments to step up, warning disrupting immunization services amid the COVID-19 pandemic could leave even more of the world’s most marginalized children without access to life-saving vaccines.
From bustling streets to lockdown: Bangladesh and the UN mobilize to fight COVID-19: a UN Resident Coordinator blog
The UN is working closely with the authorities, civil society and the private sector in Bangladesh, as the south Asian country braces for the COVID-19 pandemic. For the latest in our occasional series of blogs from the UN's network of Resident Coordinators who lead the Organization's Country Teams, here's Mia Seppo, in Bangladesh.
‘No evidence’ that recovered COVID-19 patients cannot be reinfected, says WHO
The UN World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that there is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection.
Liberia: Ebola contact tracing lessons inform COVID-19 response
Lessons learned during the Ebola outbreak in Liberia six years ago are helping the West African country to confront the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) which is working alongside the World Health Organization (WHO) on surveillance and the coordination of contact tracing.
‘Landmark collaboration’ to make COVID-19 testing and treatment available to all
World leaders, scientists, humanitarians and private sector partners united on Friday in “a landmark collaboration” that will make new tools and medicines to diagnose and treat COVID-19, accessible to people everywhere.
First Person: Finding new ways to save millions at risk during the coronavirus pandemic
Millions of people are reliant on humanitarian supplies to survive, and the COVID-19 pandemic is making it even more difficult for aid workers to reach them. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), is having to rethink the way it operates in some of the most vulnerable places in the world.