Coronavirus global health emergency: Coverage from UN News

Early indications from the economic fallout of COVID-19 are that it could cost up to 25 million job losses globally, that’s more than during the global financial crisis in 2008-9.

Speaking to UN News’s Daniel Johnson, Sher Verick from the International Labour Organization (ILO), explains how governments can help soften the impact for vulnerable workers.

Pandemics tend to affect men and women differently, and specialists in gender issues are warning that the COVID-19 coronavirus may hit women in negative ways that have a more profound impact on families.

Women make up the majority of caregivers, at home and in our communities. Existing trends show they have less access to sexual and reproductive health and domestic violence rises during crises.

But women have also the power to be ‘change makers in the response agenda’ playing a central role in communicating with their families, and with their communities.

The COVID-19 pandemic shows that global challenges can only be solved through global solutions, according to the head of the UN Office in Geneva.

Director-General Tatiana Valovaya has underlined the critical need for solidarity as countries battle what she described as a “common enemy”.

Ms. Valovaya spoke to Michele Zaccheo about why the pandemic could provide a jolt that will make countries work together more effectively in the future.

Here’s a job you don’t see advertised every day: irradiating the COVID-19 virus.

It’s just one of the extraordinary tasks on the to-do list right now of Gerrit Verjoen  from the International Atomic Energy Agency, who is doing whatever he can, to help countries overcome the deadly pathogen.

In an interview with UN News’s Daniel Johnson, he shares his assessment of the new coronavirus and explains how nuclear-derived techniques could save hospitals precious time, when treating sick patients.