UN warns coronavirus could lead to next pandemic of global starvation, hunger
The United Nations has warned that the coronavirus outbreak that has brought the world to a standstill may very well lead to the next pandemic -- Hunger and Global Starvation. UN's agency World Food Program (WFP) believes that COVID-19 will lead to a rise in global poverty and starvation.
"While dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, we are also on the brink of a hunger pandemic. There is also a real danger that more people could potentially die from the economic impact of COVID-19 that from the virus itself," said WFP executive director David Beasley.
Last week Beasley had cautioned the UN Security Council that the risk of large-scale famine across much of the developing world was no 'of biblical proportions' due to the coronavirus outbreak.
"We can confidently state that levels have risen. Quarantine regulations, shipping challenges, and overall supply chain issues are compounding and adding to previously existing starvation conditions," Ian Bradbury, CEO of the Canada-based humanitarian organization 1st NAEF, told Fox News.
He further added, "We can expect more global deaths due to secondary impacts of COVID-19 than the virus itself — the World Food Program currently estimates that 265 million will be on the brink of starvation by the end of the year."
Coronavirus has already infected over 3.2 million people across the world while 228,215 have died. The number of people who have recovered after contracting the virus has now crossed one million.
