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
New COVID wave a reminder pandemic is ‘far from over’: Guterres
Governments and pharmaceutical companies need to work together in a better way, to deliver vaccines “to every person, everywhere” – not simply in the wealthiest nations, said the UN chief on Friday.
A third of the world remains totally unvaccinated against COVID: Tedros
A third of the world’s population has yet to receive a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine, including a shocking 83 per cent of all Africans, said the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday.
Misinformation that Omicron is ‘the last COVID-19 variant’ fuelling uptick worldwide: WHO
A combination of factors, including misinformation that the pandemic is over, the lifting of mask mandates, ending physical distancing - and a more transmissible Omicron BA.2 variant - are causing an increase of COVID-19 cases globally, the World Health Organization warned on Wednesday.
Two years on, COVID-19 pandemic ‘far from over’
Almost 500 million people have been infected with the coronavirus since March 2020 and new variants are still a threat. This Friday marks two years since the World Health Organization (WHO) characterised the global spread of COVID-19 as a pandemic.
COVID-19: Depression, anxiety soared 25 per cent in a year
In the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, global rates of anxiety and depression increased by a massive 25 per cent, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.
‘No free ride’ for COVID, it's here ‘for the foreseeable future’: Tedros
The world must accept that COVID-19 is with us “for the foreseeable future”, even if it is possible to end the acute phase of the pandemic this year, UN health agency chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Monday.
70 per cent vaccination target must be met to ward off Omicron: WHO
As the Omicron variant of COVID-19 continues to surge across the world, the UN health agency on Tuesday said that it was crucial that more is done to help all countries receive lifesaving coronavirus jabs as quickly as possible.
COVID-19: Don’t underestimate Omicron, WHO chief warns
The Omicron variant is “probably” now present in most of the world’s countries and it would be a mistake to dismiss the COVID-19 strain as “mild”, said the head of the UN health agency (WHO) on Tuesday.
COVID cases surging in Africa at fastest rate this year, but deaths remain low
An 83 per cent surge in COVID-19 cases during the past week in Africa, driven by the Delta and Omicron variants, is causing fewer deaths than previous spikes, the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed on Tuesday, but more waves could be on the way, due to the continent’s slow vaccine rollout.
Vaccine hoarding will prolong COVID warns WHO, as agency mulls early Omicron data
Early laboratory data on the effectiveness of existing vaccines against the Omicron COVID-19 variant is useful, but it is still unclear how effective these will be in treating severely sick patients, a UN health agency panel said on Thursday.