UN Security Council to discuss coronavirus pandemic on Thursday

UNITED NATIONS. KAZINFORM On Thursday, April 9, the UN Security Council will hold closed consultations via a video linkup to discuss the novel coronavirus pandemic, a Security Council source told TASS on Monday.

Such a meeting has been delayed for quite a while as the pandemic question is not on the Security Council’s agenda. However, now the countries consider it reasonable to discuss the influence of the pandemic on the issues within the Security Council’s sphere of competence. Particularly, those are the proposals made by UN Secretary General on easing of sanctions against certain countries, ceasefire, as well as humanitarian aid and the pandemic’s impact on peacekeeping missions, TASS reports.

The meeting was requested by nine non-permanent members of the Security Council (Belgium, Dominican Republic, Vietnam, Germany, Indonesia, Niger, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Estonia). Earlier, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres confirmed he would deliver a report to the Council.

The COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak that occurred in late 2019 in Central China has spread to the majority of countries across the globe and has been recognized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization. According to the latest figures, around 1.3 mln confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been registered worldwide, with the death toll exceeding 70,000 people.