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UN: Poorer Countries Need 2 Billion Dollars to Tackle Coronavirus

Poorer countries need 2 billion dollars of international humanitarian aid to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said in launching a major donation appeal.

He noted that people in those nations often live in cramped refugee camps where they do not have the means to self-isolate, lack clean water and soap to wash their hands, and do not have access to hospital beds and ventilators if they become seriously ill/

UN emergency aid coordinator Mark Lowcock said: “Nobody is safe until everybody is safe.” He also warned that the virus has the potential to destabilize countries, which could in turn boost migration.

There are currently over 470,000 confirmed coronavirus cases around the globe, and more than 20,000 deaths.

Lowcock said the virus is starting to spread across the African continent and the first case has been reported in Syria, warning that the “impact in these places would be catastrophic.”

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