Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that range from the common cold to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The most recent coronavirus (sometimes referred to as the novel coronavirus) is called COVID-19 and was first detected in Wuhan, China in December of 2019.
WHO Director's General's Opening Remarks on Covid-19
My message is threefold: we must fight, unite and ignite. Fight to stop the virus with every resource at our disposal; Unite to confront the pandemic together. We are one humanity, with one, common enemy. No country can fight alone; we can only fight together. And ignite the industrial might and innovation of the G20 to produce and distribute the tools needed to save lives.
Impact
Close to a billion people are still locked down after the coronavirus outbreak brought life around the world to a virtual standstill. The pandemic is expected to have enormous economic consequences and it is also having a devastating impact on global education. According to the latest figures released by UNESCO, some 1.3 billion learners around the world were not able to attend school or university as of March 23, 2020.
UNESCO's figures refer to learners enrolled at pre-primary, primary, lower-secondary, and upper-secondary levels of education as well as at tertiary level. 1,379,344,914 students or 80 percent of the world's learners are now being kept out of educational institutions by country-wide closures. Another 284 million learners are being affected in some way by closures at a localized level, such as those seen in U.S. states like California and Virginia. 138 governments have now ordered country-wide closures of their schools and universities.
