“In light of the rapid spreading of COVID-19 in the world and as raised in several video teleconferencing (VTC) meetings, Belgium, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Germany, Indonesia, Niger, Tunisia, Vietnam, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines would like to request a Security Council closed VTC on the impact of COVID-19 on the issues that fall under the UNSC mandate, including the Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's call for a global ceasefire, on the impact of COVID-19 on the peacekeeping missions and special political missions and on the humanitarian response”, the source said.
The source added that the member states had also requested Guterres to brief the Security Council during the meeting.
On 24 March, the UN chief called for an immediate halt of fighting worldwide in order to focus together on combating the pandemic.
As of 2 April, more than 900,000 people have been infected with the novel coronavirus worldwide, with the death toll exceeded 45,600, World Health Organisation data shows. According to John Hopkins University, over 1 million coronavirus cases have been registered in the world, while over 51,400 people died.