UN Secretary-General: Coronavirus Is ‘The Most Challenging Crisis’ Since World War II

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that Coronavirus is the greatest challenge since World War II. Guterres made the stark comparison on Tuesday as the Covid-19 global pandemic has seen millions on lock down and perhaps hundreds of thousands more deaths expected.

“The new coronavirus disease is attacking societies at their core, claiming lives and people’s livelihoods,” the Secretary-General said.

Guterres said Coronavirus was “a disease that represents a threat to everybody in the world and… an economic impact that will bring a recession that probably has no parallel in the recent past.”

“The combination of the two facts and the risk that it contributes to enhanced instability, enhanced unrest, and enhanced conflict are things that make us believe that this is the most challenging crisis we have faced since the Second World War,” he said.

“Covid-19 is the greatest test that we have faced together since the formation of the United Nations.”

“A stronger and more effective response… is only possible in solidarity if everybody comes together and if we forget political games and understand that it is humankind that is at stake,” he said.

“We are far from having a global package to help the developing world to create the conditions both to suppress the disease and to address the dramatic consequences.”

The Trump administration yesterday suggested there could be up to 240,000 Coronavirus-related deaths in the U.S. alone.