Divided world is failing COVID-19 test: U.N. Chief

United Nations Chief Antonio Guterres said Saturday a divided world has flunked the COVID-19 test. Guterres told a Portuguese news agency that the international community has failed to rise to the challenge of fighting the pandemic.

The Secretary-General warned that the virus could push millions of people into poverty and hunger unless coordinated action was taken. Guterres, the former prime minister of Portugal, said the economic effects would be - in his words - “devastating.”

According to the latest Reuters tally, more than 39 million people have been infected by COVID-19. Since the first cases were identified in China in December last year, infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories.