"The pandemic and associated global recession are about to wreak havoc in fragile and low-income countries. The response of wealthy nations so far has been grossly inadequate and dangerously short-sighted," said Mark Lowcock, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, in statement released Thursday. To date, more than 13.7 million people have contracted the virus worldwide, resulting in almost 590,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. While the virus has upended life in parts of Europe and North America, many emerging and developing nations are also struggling to to contain an upward trend in case numbers. Brazil, India, Russia and South Africa have recorded the second, third, fourth and sixth most cases of any countries in the world, respectively.

Source: CNN July 17, 2020 03:33 UTC