UN chief says Africa navigating virus crisis, but more help needed

United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres is warning that the coronavirus pandemic threatens Africa’s progress and could push millions into extreme poverty.

Guterres says in a video message launching a policy briefing on “The Impact of COVID-19 in Africa” that countries on the continent have responded swiftly to the crisis, “and as of now reported cases are lower than feared,” with more than 2,500 deaths.

But the UN chief says “much hangs in the balance,” and calls for “international action to strengthen Africa’s health systems, maintain food supplies, avoid a financial crisis, support education, protect jobs, keep households and businesses afloat, and cushion the continent against lost income and export earnings.”

To help address the devastating economic and social consequences of the pandemic, Guterres says Africa needs more than $200 billion and “an across-the-board debt standstill for African countries.”

The pandemic “will aggravate long-standing inequalities and heighten hunger, malnutrition and vulnerability to disease,” he warns.

— AP