UK's Johnson calls for global unity against pandemics

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urges world leaders to “unite and turn our fire” against coronavirus as he announces a “five-point” plan to tackle future pandemics during an address to the UN General Assembly.

Johnson, whose country has been badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic, also announces new funding to international vaccine efforts and the World Health Organization (WHO).

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street in London, to attend the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions at the Houses of Parliament, in London, Sept. 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Johnson tells the Assembly in a virtual address that the pandemic has “united humanity as never before” but has also been an “extraordinary force of division” as nations vied with each other over supplies of medical equipment. “Unless we unite and turn our fire against our common foe, we know that everyone will lose.

— AFP