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
Inequity of COVID-19 vaccines grows ‘more grotesque every day’ – WHO chief
The growing gap between the number of vaccines being given in rich countries and those administered through COVAX is becoming “more grotesque every day”, the head of the UN health agency said on Monday.
Women ‘systematically excluded’ from COVID response, despite being worst affected
Notwithstanding that women make up 70 per cent of healthcare workers globally, and have been most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, they are also being “systematically excluded” from decision-making processes aimed at ending the pandemic, including government-run task forces around the world, according to the head of UN Women.
COVID-19: Virus variants, vaccine inequity, contribute to rising caseload
COVID-19 cases globally are on track to rise for a fourth consecutive week, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Friday.
No winners but fewer losers in global economy from COVID than expected
The COVID-19 pandemic seriously impacted all economies around the world last year, with trillions of dollars of lost earnings, UN trade and development experts UNCTAD said on Thursday, before highlighting how several countries also showed unexpected resilience, too.
Do not use weather as a basis to relax COVID-19 control measures, UN agency urges
The UN weather agency on Thursday cautioned that the current onset of warmer temperatures in the northern hemisphere should not be used as a trigger to relax measures to halt the spread of coronavirus.
South Asia: Sharp rise in child and maternal deaths due to COVID-19
Severe disruptions in health services due to the COVID-19 pandemic may have resulted in an additional 239,000 child and maternal deaths in South Asia last year, United Nations agencies said on Wednesday.
Keep mothers and newborns together, new health research says
The UN World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday, highlighted the risks of separating newborns from mothers, with new research showing that up to 125,000 lives could be saved by keeping them together to ensure skin-to-skin contact.
COVID-19: WHO and European Medicines Agency to meet on AstraZeneca vaccine
Health officials from the UN and the European Union will meet this week on the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine after several more countries suspended its use, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.
WHO backs AstraZeneca COVID vaccine amid clotting concerns; green lights Johnson & Johnson shots
The UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that it was aware of blood clot concerns linked to “a specific batch” of AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, but maintained that to date, no-one has died from any coronavirus vaccine.