UN chief says COVID-19 worst crisis since WWII
UNITED NATIONS — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Tuesday that the world faces the most challenging crisis since World War II, confronting a pandemic threatening people in every country, one that will bring a recession “that probably has no parallel in the recent past.”
There is also a risk that the combination of the disease and its economic impact will contribute to “enhanced instability, enhanced unrest, and enhanced conflict,” the U.N. chief said at the launch of a report on the socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19.
Guterres called for a much stronger and more effective global response to the coronavirus pandemic and to the social and economic devastation that COVID-19 is causing.
He stressed that this will only be possible “if everybody comes together and if we forget political games and understand that it is humankind that is at stake.”
“We are facing a global health crisis unlike any in the 75-year history of the United Nations — one that is killing people, spreading human suffering, and upending people’s lives,” the report said. “But this is much more than a health crisis. It is a human crisis. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is attacking societies at their core.”
Worldwide, more than 850,000 people have been infected and more than 42,000 have died, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. Italy and Spain accounted for half the deaths. Nearly 178,000 people have recovered.
Meanwhile, Mexico has started taking tougher measures against the coronavirus after weeks of its president hugging followers and saying religious medals would protect him. Some experts warn the sprawling country of 129 million is acting too late and testing too little to prevent the type of crisis unfolding across the border in the United States.
Last week Mexico banned nonessential government work as confirmed cases climbed, but took until late Monday to extend that to other business sectors and to bar gatherings of more than 50 people.
By Tuesday, Mexico had reported more than 1,000 confirmed cases and at least 28 deaths.
Experts say those figures greatly understate the true number of infections. Mexico has done far less testing than many other countries — fewer than 10,000 tests. New York state alone had performed more than 205,000 tests by Tuesday. There were also signs the disease may be far more advanced in Mexico than the limited testing shows — three state governors have already tested positive for coronavirus.
In Russia, lawmakers approved harsher punishments, including prison sentences of several years, for violating quarantine rules and spreading misinformation. The chief doctor at Moscow’s top hospital for coronavirus patients said he tested positive, a week after shaking hands with President Vladimir Putin.
Spain reported more than 840 new deaths, pushing the toll above 8,400 and forcing Madrid to open a second temporary morgue after an ice rink pressed into service last week became overwhelmed.