UN: We've Seen Nothing Like This Since WWII

As confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide move relentlessly toward the 1 million figure, the United Nations is warning that the outbreak is the biggest test it has faced since it was formed in 1945. The global body called for international cooperation to fight the pandemic Wednesday, warning that it is "attacking societies at their core," the New York Times reports. "We are facing a global health crisis unlike any in the 75-year history of the United Nations—one that is killing people, spreading human suffering and upending people’s lives," a UN report said. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for rich countries to help poorer ones, saying the world faces "the nightmare of the disease spreading like wildfire in the global South with millions of deaths and the prospect of the disease re-emerging where it was previously suppressed."

"Let us remember that we are only as strong as the weakest health system in our interconnected world," Guterres said. As of early Wednesday, more than 874,000 cases of coronavirus had been confirmed worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. The US now has almost 190,000 cases, far more than any other country, while Italy and Spain have both overtaken China, with more than 100,000 cases in each country, the Guardian reports. The 193 members of the UN General Assembly are currently considering two rival resolutions calling for global cooperation to fight the pandemic, the AP reports. One resolution has more than 130 co-sponsors. Russia says a second one it has sponsored is more "result-oriented." (More coronavirus stories.)