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UN Chief: Global COVID-19 Recovery Will Take Years

Margaret Besheer

   NEW YORK - The U.N. secretary-general said Thursday that the damage
   COVID-19 has done globally will not be undone by a vaccine alone, and
   that a full recovery will take years, possibly decades.

   "The social and economic impact of the pandemic is enormous, and
   growing," Antonio Guterres told a high-level special session of the
   General Assembly intended to take stock of the current global response
   to the illness caused by the coronavirus.

   A U.N. report released Thursday said that as many as 32 million people
   could be pushed into extreme poverty this year by the pandemic. The
   world body has tried to address the fallout, extending humanitarian
   assistance to millions more people. The U.N. chief also has pressed for
   a stimulus package worth at least 10% of global GDP and for debt relief
   for all countries that need it.

   Nearly 80 heads of state and government are addressing the two-day
   summit by video, which will also include presentations from scientists,
   experts and the heads of several U.N. agencies, including the
   director-general of the World Health Organization.

   The global virus death toll is nearing 1.5 million, out of a total of
   64.6 million confirmed cases, according to Johns Hopkins University,
   which tracks the data.

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