Birds in paradise: Albania's flamingos flourish in virus lockdown

AFP / Gent SHKULLAKUThe coronavirus lockdown has brought a welcome reprieve for Albania's flamingos 

With tourists home, boats docked and factories silenced under a coronavirus lockdown, Albania's pink flamingos and curly pelicans are flourishing in the newfound tranquility of lagoons dotting the country's western coastline.

Beating their pink and black-lined wings, a growing flock of thousands of flamingos have recently been soaring over and splashing in the glistening waters of Narta Lagoon, an important site for migratory birds on the Adriatic coast.

Their numbers have increased by nearly a third up to some 3,000 since January, according to park authorities.

With humans kept home under lockdown, "wildlife have regained all of their absolute rights and are enjoying all the freedoms of nature," Nexhip Hysolakoj, the chief of the protected area, told AFP from the shores of the placid lagoon.

In recent years unchecked urbanisation, a growing tourism footprint and industrial activity have threatened ecosystems in the protected zone surrounded by scrubby hills.

The coronavirus lockdown imposed on March 9, however, has brought a welcome reprieve.

Gone are the churning engines of fishing boats and the dozens of ferries and other vessels that normally depart daily from the nearby port of Vlora.

Car traffic on a busy road only 500 metres away has also been reduced, adding to the quiet and protecting land animals.

And nearby factories who have come under scrutiny for polluting the waters with waste, such as a leather processing plant and an olive oil producer, are dormant.

- 'Time for love' -

Conservationists hope the quiet will encourage the graceful birds to take the next step and mate.

Over the past three weeks, couples have been "moving a little further into the lagoon and are now starting courtship rituals," said Hysolokaj.

The author of Albania's first bird guide, Mirjan Topi, said the conditions are perfect for the flamingos to start reproducing in the Balkan state.

AFP / Gent SHKULLAKUExperts hope Albania's lockdown will help vulnerable birds, including pelicans (pictured), boost their numbers

The birds typically "travel for a few years in the different regions of the Mediterranean until they reach sexual maturity", he said.

Those frolicking in the lagoon today hail from Africa, Italy, Greece, Spain and France, according to a park survey.

"It's time for love," Odise Celoaliaj, an environmental expert, said with excitement as he peered through binoculars to watch a flock of flamingos take flight.

"It is enough to see how the flamingos are enjoying the tranquility, they feed and dance on their own free will."

- Pelican nests -

Just under 100 kilometres (60 miles) to the north, officials in Albania's largest lagoon in Divjaka National Park also hope the calm will be a boon to a growing population of Dalmatian pelicans.

The "near threatened" species are known as curly pelicans for the ruffle of feathers on top of their heads.

Some 85 mating pairs are nesting on a tiny island in the centre of the lagoon, which is separated from the Adriatic by a sandy bar.

The population has been increasing in recent years and has now reached its highest number in the last three decades, according to Ardian Koci, the park's director.

But the area is also threatened by a growing tourist industry, with some 50,000 visitors a month.

AFP / Gent SHKULLAKUUnchecked urbanisation, a growing tourism footprint and industrial activity have threatened flamingo ecosystems in Albania in recent years

Today silence reigns with restaurants and hotels, including dozens of illegally constructed buildings, closed.

The pelicans, plus flamingos, bald eagles and Ibis falcinella are enjoying the peace, gathering on deserted pathways normally teeming with tourists.

Koci hopes health crisis that has caused almost 30 deaths in Albania will be an opportunity to rebalance tourism and the protection of biodiversity in Albania.

"I would be selfish to say that only nature counts," he said.

But "urgent measures are needed to put an end to the abuses that have so badly damaged ecosystems".

CHAIN SMOKING PARISIANS 

France testing whether nicotine could prevent coronavirus

AFP / Fred TANNEAUResearchers in France are planning to carry out further trials to see if nicotine could protect against coronavirus infections

Nicotine could protect people from contracting the coronavirus, according to new research in France, where further trials are planned to test whether the substance could be used to prevent or treat the deadly illness.

The findings come after researchers at a top Paris hospital examined 343 coronavirus patients along with 139 people infected with the illness with milder symptoms.

They found that a low number of them smoked, compared to smoking rates of around 35 percent in France's general population.

"Among these patients, only five percent were smokers," said Zahir Amoura, the study's co-author and a professor of internal medicine.

The research echoed similar findings published in the New England Journal of Medicine last month that suggested that 12.6 percent of 1,000 people infected in China were smokers. That was a much lower figure than the number of regular smokers in China's general population, about 26 precent, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The theory is that nicotine could adhere to cell receptors, therefore blocking the virus from entering cells and spreading in the body, according to renown neurobiologist Jean-Pierre Changeux from France's Pasteur Institut who also co-authored the study.

The researchers are awaiting approval from health authorities in France to carry out further clinical trials.

They plan to use nicotine patches on health workers at the Pitie-Salpetriere hospital in Paris -- where the initial research was conducted -- to see if it protects them against contracting the virus.

They have also applied to use the patches on hospitalised patients to see whether it helps reduce symptoms and also on more serious intensive care patients, Amoura said.

The researchers are looking into whether nicotine could help to prevent "cytokine storms", a rapid overreaction of the immune system that scientists think could play a key role in fatal COVID-19 cases.

But with further research needed, experts are not encouraging people to pick up smoking or use nicotine patches as a protective measure against the virus.

"We must not forget the harmful effects of nicotine," said Jerome Salomon, France's top health official.

"Those who do not smoke should absolutely not use nicotine substitutes", which cause side effects and addiction, he warned.

Tobacco is the number one killer in France, with an estimated 75,000 deaths per year linked to smoking.

France is one of the hardest hit countries by the coronavirus in Europe, with more than 21,000 deaths and over 155,000 reported infections.

AFP wins at World Press Photo 2020
Yasuyoshi Chiba, Nicolas Asfouri, Sean Davey, Oli Scarff 

AFP photographers have once again won prizes at this year's World Press Photo, the world's most prestigious photography competition, including the coveted "Photo of the Year." Here they are in their own words:

Yasuyoshi Chiba
Photo of the Year
People chant slogans as a young man recites a poem, illuminated by mobile phones, before the opposition's direct dialog with people in Khartoum on June 19, 2019. (AFP / Yasuyoshi Chiba)

One of the reasons I like being a photographer is because I can go to new places.

When I applied for my visa to go to Sudan, I was very excited -- not only would it be my first time in the country, but it was at the time in the news, with thousands of protesters holding a peaceful sit-in.

The unrest started after the government tripled the price of bread. The army overthrew the longtime president, but the protesters kept holding a sit-in at the entrance of the army headquarters, demanding civilian rule. Then an unknown military group dispersed them. Doctors linked to the protest movement said at least 128 people died in the violence; while the authorities gave a death toll of at least 87 and denied ordering the dispersal.

I arrived in Khartoum about two weeks later. The protesters had disappeared from the streets, but the security forces were everywhere. The internet had been shut off and people were not able to share information through social networks.

One night, my colleagues and I went to a residential area where opposition leaders were supposed to meet with supporters for a briefing.

The place was in a total blackout. As organizers prepared generators, youth collected rocks to barricade the streets leading to the site.

Then all of a sudden people started clapping their hands in the dark. They held up their mobile phones to illuminate a young man in the center.

He was reciting something, as people around him shouted “thawra.” Later a colleague told me that the young man was reciting a famous poem and that the others were shouting “revolution.”

Though I could not understand him at the time, his facial expression and voice impressed me. I could not stop focusing on him to capture the moment. I didn’t name him, as I was a bit nervous about the protesters’ security.

During my stay, I felt like there was always someone watching me. I was also watched over -- people were always inviting me in for tea, coffee, a bottle of water.

We face a lot of uncertain obstacles, especially working in Africa, but, on the other hand, we encounter unexpected generous moments that compensate for all the difficulties.

Sometimes when I work, I feel like I am recording history. I can only hope that each image can be a message for a better future.

I like being a photographer since all of my experiences in different parts of the world come together to create a new perception. And this is what motivates me to keep going.

READ ON https://correspondent.afp.com/afp-wins-world-press-photo-2020

Pompeo says China may have known of virus in November

THE CIA SAID THAT TWO MONTHS AGO

POOL/AFP/File / NICHOLAS KAMMUS Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States still wanted more information from China including the original sample of the SARS-CoV-2 virus detected in the metropolis of Wuhan

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo charged Thursday that China may have known of the new coronavirus as early as November, renewing accusations that Beijing has not been transparent.

"You'll recall that the first cases of this were known by the Chinese government maybe as early as November, but certainly by mid-December," Pompeo said in an interview.

"They were slow to identify this for anyone in the world, including the World Health Organization," he told conservative radio host Larry O'Connor.

Pompeo said the United States still wanted more information from China including the original sample of the SARS-CoV-2 virus detected in the metropolis of Wuhan.

"This issue of transparency is important not only as a historical matter to understand what happened back in November and December and January, but it's important even today," Pompeo said.

"This is still impacting lots of lives here in the United States and, frankly, around the world."

China at first closely guarded information of the virus and detained whistleblowers. The first official acknowledgement of what became a global pandemic came on December 31 when authorities in Wuhan reported mysterious cases of pneumonia.

Michael Ryan, emergencies director at the World Health Organization, said the UN body first spoke of an event in Wuhan on January 4 via Twitter and provided "detailed information" the following day to all member countries.

President Donald Trump's administration has harshly criticized both China and the WHO, blaming them for not stopping the illness that has killed more than 180,000 people worldwide.

Critics say that Trump is seeking to deflect from his own handling of the coronavirus, which he claimed to have "totally under control" in January but has since killed nearly 50,000 people in the United States -- more than any other country.

Pompeo has previously not ruled out that the virus originated in a virology laboratory in Wuhan and has demanded international access to it.

China has dismissed the theory. Its scientists say that the virus probably was transmitted to humans at a meat market in Wuhan that butchered exotic animals.

More than 8M at U.S. restaurants out of work amid crisis, survey shows

Long-time restaurants, like Nate 'n Al's Delicatessen in Beverly Hills, Calif., have been forced to curtail operations and lay off workers due to the coronavirus crisis. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo

April 20 (UPI) -- More than three-quarters of restaurant workers in the United States -- about 8 million -- have been put out of work by the coronavirus crisis, a new survey showed Monday.

According to the National Restaurant Association, food and beverage sales were down an average of 78 percent year-to-year over the first 10 days of April. The industry group said that amounts to about $50 billion in lost sales this month.

The association polled 6,500 restaurant operators for the survey.

It found that nearly 90 percent of U.S. restaurant operators have laid off or furloughed workers since the beginning of March. Those operators cut, on average, 83 percent of their entire staff. More than 40 percent said they laid off 100 percent of the staff. There are about 12 million employees in the U.S. food service industry.

The association found that fast-food restaurants with drive-through service were the only operators that reported less severe sales declines (57 percent) because most were already well-equipped to handle "off-premises traffic."

One national chain, Shake Shack, announced Monday it has returned $10 million in federal funds it received from the Small Business Administration's $350 billion rescue Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The fund, part of the CARES Act passed last month, offered two-year loans of up to $10 million to businesses with fewer than 500 workers.

Filings with the Securities Exchange Commission showed that Shake Shack was one of more than 70 larger businesses, those with more than 500 employees, that received money from the fund -- which ran out of money last week.

"We've decided to immediately return the entire $10 million PPP loan we received last week to the SBA so that those restaurants who need it most can get it now," Shake Shack owners Danny Meyer and Randy Garutti wrote in a letter.

The chain laid off more than 1,000 of its 7,600 employees in recent weeks, according to Restaurant Business Online.

Ruth's Chris Steak House, which has 150 U.S. locations and more than 5,000 employees, received $20 million from the fund, The Washington Post reported. Pot Belly, a sandwich shop chain with 400 locations, received another $10 million and Taco Cabana, which has more than 160 stores, received $10 million, according to SEC filings.

Nation's onion farmers struggle with loss of customers due to pandemic

NOT JUST INDIA AND PAKISTAN BUT THE USA TOO

Onions like these at Owyhee Produce in Oregon have been destroyed due to lack of buyers during the coronavirus pandemic. Photo courtesy of Owyhee Produce

ORLANDO, Fla., April 23 (UPI) -- Onion farmers around the United States destroyed crops or struggled to complete harvests in the past two weeks after many regular customers closed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Growers in Oregon destroyed millions of pounds of onions, while those in Texas said they were close to harvest time with half their normal buyers, and had to leave crops in the field.

In Georgia, Vidalia onion growers said they still had retail customers, but workers were slowed by isolation restrictions. They continued to harvest, but with much higher costs.

And onion growers everywhere anxiously awaited more details about how to apply for government aid.

"I wake up every day thinking, what do I do?" said Steve Cargil, owner of Cargil Farms Produce, which is about 90 miles west of San Antonio, Texas. "There's always a little anxiety when you approach harvest, but I'm not sure if it's even worth opening up the harvest this year.

"I will have no choice but to leave much of it in the field if something doesn't change soon," Cargil said.

Cargil said he grows onions on 350 acres, with almost half his crop sold to food service buyers, hotels and restaurants which were ordered to close in March

Onion grower Shay Myers in western Oregon said he dug trenches and buried 4 million pounds that were nearing the end of their storage time in the last two weeks.

"This region, the Snake River Valley, is hit hard because we grow primarily for food service, and that market dried up when everything closed," said Myers, the CEO of Owyhee Produce.

"We've tried to find other buyers. We sent some for cattle feed and some to food banks, but there are no other options," Myers said.

He said demand spiked in March as shoppers stocked up to stay home, but retail sales have dropped to 25 percent of normal in recent weeks.

The Greeley, Colo.-based National Onion Association is trying to speed obtaining government money for its members, said Rene Hardwick, the group's director of public and industry relations.

"We're looking for ways to help our onion farmers, and we're hoping we can get some of the money from the stimulus through the USDA soon," Hardwick said. "Food service is about half our market, and that was just gone overnight."

The Trump administration said Friday that $2.7 billion would go to the fruit and vegetable industry to help cover some of the overwhelming losses related to the pandemic. That support is divided, with $2.1 billion allocated for direct payment to growers and $100 million per month for the next six months for produce purchases.

The funds are to come from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Securities Act, which President Trump signed into law March 27.

In Georgia, the Vidalia onion region began their harvests during the pandemic. Since most Vidalia onions are sold at stores, growers there still have buyers, said Delbert Bland, the owner of Bland Farms. But other unexpected costs came into play.

"Our biggest challenge is keeping the labor force safe. We have had an additional expense of about $70,000 a week" for masks, food deliveries and other safety measures, said Bland, who grows about on about 3,000 acres in the region.

He said his farm normally provides transportation to grocery stores so workers can shop, but now he also delivers groceries to keep workers from coronavirus exposure.

"We don't want them mixing with the community, or each other, so we have isolated them into groups of 20," Bland said.

The prospect of some government aid to farmers did not satisfy industry leaders.

The United Fresh Produce Association, an agriculture lobbying group based in Washington, D.C., said in a statement Saturday that the CARES Act funding was a good start -- but not enough.

"The funds available to agriculture are simply inadequate to keep our industry strong into the future," said Tom Stenzel, the United Fresh president and CEO.

US Hemp farmers, CBD producers included in coronavirus emergency aid program


Hemp farmers and CBD producers will be eligible for disaster emergency loans from the U.S. Small Business Association, an advocacy group said. File Photo by Jean Lotus/UPI

DENVER, April 23 (UPI) -- Hemp farmers and CBD companies are now eligible for COVID-19 related economic relief from the Small Business Association and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, an industry group said.

The Economic Injury Disaster Loans program was expanded to include hemp farmers under the Paycheck Protection Program Increase Act, passed by the U.S. Senate Tuesday.

The U.S. House is expected to approve the bill Thursday, and President Donald Trump has indicated he would sign it into law, the hemp lobbying group Vote Hemp said Wednesday.

The program was expanded to include farmers and hemp-related companies with fewer than 500 employees because USDA emergency loans had been limited to natural disasters.

In the new legislation, Congress also added another $10 billion to the disaster loan program and increased paycheck protection funding from to $659 billion from a previous $349 billion program. The earlier program quickly ran out of money after record numbers of businesses applied, including some large chains with more than 500 employees.

"Agriculture is deemed essential, but there's an agricultural dynamic that's being created by the pandemic where it's interfering with the supply chain," said Tim Gordon, president of the Colorado Hemp Industries Association. "These disruptions are going all the way to the hemp farmers."

More than 17,000 farmers licensed to grow hemp are experiencing "significant headwinds and instability as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and must be able to access disaster relief programs that can support them now," Eric Steenstra, president of Vote Hemp, said in a statement.

As planting season approaches, hemp farmers have found that capital to buy seeds has dried up, and demand has collapsed for CBD, after a market glut and crackdowns on Internet sales.

Coronavirus "stay-at-home" orders closed many CBD retailers and disrupted extractors and other hemp processing companies, industry leaders said Wednesday at an Earth Week NoCo Hemp virtual trade show.

Farmers are realizing they can't make a killing on CBD, and that has left some overextended, said Wendy Mosher, president of Fort Collins, Colo.,-based New West Genetics, a hemp seed company.

"People were telling farmers they were gonna make $40,000 an acre growing hemp," Mosher said. "I want to kill those people."

Industrial hemp, a cousin of federally illegal THC-laden marijuana, has been in a complicated regulatory environment since it was reintroduced in the United States through the 2018 Farm Bill.

Hemp farmers and those who make hemp products such as CBD, fiber, or grain have been struggling to be included in commodity crop insurance, banking and other programs available to farmers of other crops.

Hemp farmers also might be eligible for the USDA's $16 billion Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, which will provide subsidies for actual commodity losses, the hemp advocacy group said.

If hemp is included, to qualify for a payment, qualifying producers will receive 85 percent of their price loss for commodities that have declined in price by at least 5 percent between January and April 2020.

"We will be working with our contacts on Capitol Hill and the USDA to try to ensure the maximum support," Vote Hemp said Wednesday.

Anguish in Brazil's ICU units overwhelmed by COVID-19

AFP / Miguel SCHINCARIOLBeds are in short supply in the intensive care unit at the Emilio Ribas hospital in Sao Paulo

Frederic Lima arrived at the already overwhelmed Emilio Ribas hospital in Sao Paulo with coronavirus symptoms. Less than 12 hours later a doctor told the 32-year-old's aunt: "We did everything possible."

It's become an all too familiar sight for Dr Fernanda Gulinelli, who treated Lima.

She signs as many death certificates as release forms in the intensive care unit (ICU) at Emilio Ribas, the state's first public hospital to be pushed to breaking point by the coronavirus.

In Brazil there have been more than 3,300 deaths from COVID-19, with hardest-hit Sao Paulo state home to one-third of the country's cases.

"Usually we have more discharges than deaths outside of the pandemic, but with the seriousness of these patients we have days with more deaths than discharges," said Gulinelli.

Brazil still hasn't reached the apex of its outbreak, which the health ministry predicts will not occur until May.

Apart from a 22-year-old suffering from tuberculosis, all the patients at the Emilio Ribas ICU, aged from 37 to 66, are either confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19, said Jaques Sztajnbok, a medical supervisor at the unit.

The 54-year-old says that this disease is different from any other he's come across in his 28 years at Emilio Ribas.

Now "we always have 100 percent occupancy because when one person leaves there are 100 requests" to come in, said Sztajnbok.

Beds only become available when an existing patient either recovers, or dies.

AFP / Miguel SCHINCARIOLMore than a third of Brazil's 2,700 deaths from COVID-19 have been reported in Sao Paulo

For Sztajnbok, what's different about COVID-19 is "the huge number of cases" and that it's "a very serious disease that affects various organs and requires weeks of intensive care."

The problem is that "you need to maintain the capacity to treat the five percent (of cases) that according to statistics need intensive care. No country has that many intensive care beds and Brazil is no exception," he said.

- 'We did everything' -

After he was admitted, Lima was put on a ventilator but doctors couldn't increase his oxygen levels. Even after one hour of CPR they were unable to revive him.

"You question whether you really did everything. I know we did everything but it affects you a lot. Since he stopped (breathing) I've felt like I was run over," said Gulinelli.

Lima was a doctor himself, originally from the north, working in the ICU of another public hospital.

He lived alone and started feeling symptoms last week but didn't tell his aunt Rosa da Rocha, one of his few family members in Sao Paulo.

"I don't know why he didn't say anything, maybe because he was young. He didn't have any health problems, he exercised, he was young, he had his whole life in front of him," said Da Rocha minutes after receiving the bad news.

Lima had been taken to the ICU as soon as he arrived at hospital. Luckily, there was a spare bed.

Dr Luciana Borges, the accident and emergency supervisor at Emilio Ribas, said the public hospital already had a shortage of beds before the coronavirus outbreak exponentially increased demand.

Half the patients that arrive at the emergency care unit need hospital treatment, she added.

In the Emilio Ribas, where AFP was granted access, medical professionals are feeling the strain and their numbers are dropping because of the disease.

AFP / Miguel SCHINCARIOLFour of the 22 doctors in the intensive care unit at the Emilio Ribas hospital in Sao Paulo have had to stand down due to health concerns related to the novel coronavirus

Of the 22 doctors that work there, two had to be isolated because they were among the most vulnerable population.

One doctor has contracted the disease and a second is showing symptoms.

For Gulinelli, this "is a new chapter in medicine that we're having to write on the go, and we don't know what the next sentence will be."

ACLU: Jails could double U.S. coronavirus death toll

If we don't decarcerate, the COVID-19 crisis could lead to approximately 100,000 more avoidable deaths in jails and surrounding communities. This is a matter of life or death. pic.twitter.com/4nViWbFj3c— ACLU (@ACLU) April 22, 2020

April 23 (UPI) -- The number of deaths in the United States to the coronavirus may end up being double the Trump administration's projections unless prison populations are reduced, the American Civil Liberties Union warned.

President Donald Trump and his Coronavirus Task Force projected in late March between 100,000 and 240,000 deaths to the virus but a new epidemiological study released Wednesday by the non-profit organization and its academic partners said the White House could be off by 100,000 due to the omission of jails from most public models.

"Numbers used by the Trump administration largely fail to consider several factors that will explosively increase the loss of life unless drastic reforms are adopted to reduce the nation's jail populations," the report said.

Those overlooked factors include: the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, making models based on data from other countries understate deaths; U.S. jails and prisons are overcrowded and "substantially inferior" to those of European and other Western nations; and jails can act as vectors for disease due to the high number of people they discharge daily back into communities

"As a result of the constant movement between jails and the broader community, our jails will act as vectors for the COVID-19 pandemic in our communities," the report said. "They will become veritable volcanoes for the spread of the virus."


The report concludes the social distancing measures adopted by the larger society will be ineffective unless they are extended to incarceration facilities as well.
To prevent this from occurring, the ACLU called on officials to swiftly reduce detention facility populations.

The report was published a week after three states and Washington, D.C., recorded their first inmate deaths from COVID-19.

The ACLU has been pushing for states to release inmates vulnerable to the coronavirus.

The report is based on data from more than 1,200 midsize and large jail systems whose surrounding communities account for 90 percent of the U.S. population.

"Keeping people out of jail saves lives -- both inside the jail and in the surrounding community," the ACLU said in a statement. "Lives are at stake. The time to act is now."

U.N. secretary-general: Coronavirus fast becoming human rights crisis

A couple hold hands in West New York, N.J., on Wednesday with the Manhattan skyline in the background. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

April 23 (UPI) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Thursday the coronavirus pandemic is "fast becoming a human rights crisis" and warned governments against using it as an excuse to adopt draconian measures.

Guterres made the remarks in a video accompanying a new U.N. report that says human rights should guide the coronavirus response, and stated that people and their rights "must come first."

The U.N. chief said the virus, which has infected more than 2.6 million people worldwide, does not discriminate but its impacts do, exposing weaknesses in the delivery of public services and structural inequalities that impede their access.

"We see the disproportionate effects on certain communities, the rise of hate speech, the targeting of vulnerable groups and the risks of heavy-handed security responses undermining the health response," he said. "Against the background of rising ethnonationalism, populism, authoritarianism and a pushback against human rights in some countries, the crisis can provide a pretext to adopt repressive measures for purposes unrelated to the pandemic."

According to the report, migrants, refugees and internally displaced persons are particularly vulnerable to human rights violations, as are racial, ethnic and religious minorities, women and health workers who have been ostracized and attacked during the pandemic.

These marginalized and vulnerable populations are subject to discrimination and the pandemic is revealing the structural inequalities that cause certain groups to be disproportionately affected, it said.

The report also warned that the pandemic, through furthering economic hardships, will raise already high tensions and could provoke civil unrest.

Guterres said emergency responses must be legal, proportionate, necessary and non-discriminatory and directed with a specific focus and within a defined time frame. Governments must be transparent, responsive and accountable, he said.

"The best response is one that responds proportionately to immediate threats while protecting human rights and the rule of law"