UN Secretary General: The World Failed To Face The COVID-19 Test

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JAKARTA - UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the world had failed to face the challenge of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

As reported by Antara , Sunday, October 18, he warned of the need for collective action to prevent millions of people from falling into poverty and hunger.

The former prime minister of Portugal said much more could be done if countries worked together to fight the coronavirus disease, which has claimed more than one million lives globally.

"The COVID-19 pandemic is a major global challenge for the entire international community, for multilateralism and for me, as secretary-general of the United Nations," Guterres told the Portuguese news agency.

"Unfortunately it is a test that, so far, the international community has failed to carry out."

According to him, if coordinated steps are not taken, "this microscopic virus could propel millions of people into poverty and hunger, with devastating economic repercussions in the next few years."

Guterres also criticized countries for lacking unity in their efforts to tackle various other global challenges, such as conflicts in Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria.

"This is a source of tremendous frustration," he said.

More than 39 million people worldwide are infected with COVID-19, according to a Reuters tally based on official data.

Coronavirus infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were detected in China in December last year.