AP: U.N. chief: World at war with a virus, recession near certain
“U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said Thursday the world ‘is at war with a virus’ and warned that ‘a global recession — perhaps of record dimensions — is a near certainty.’ The U.N. chief said ‘people are suffering, sick, and scared’ and stressed that current responses by individual countries will not address ‘the global scale and complexity of the crisis’…” (Lederer, 3/19).

The Guardian: World’s most vulnerable in ‘third wave’ for Covid-19 support, warn experts
“The world’s most vulnerable people could be last in line for support to deal with the coronavirus outbreak, experts have warned. Countries already dealing with humanitarian and refugee crises face a struggle to find the resources to deal with the pandemic by the time it reaches them, specialists said in a webinar hosted by the New Humanitarian news agency on Thursday…” (Ahmed, 3/20).

New York Times: Some Countries Are Better Armored for Epidemics Than Others
“No European country is escaping the economic consequences of the coronavirus, but the pain won’t be divided equally…” (Ewing, 3/19).

POLITICO: Coronavirus Will Change the World Permanently. Here’s How.
“For many Americans right now, the scale of the coronavirus crisis calls to mind 9/11 or the 2008 financial crisis — events that reshaped society in lasting ways, from how we travel and buy homes, to the level of security and surveillance we’re accustomed to, and even to the language we use. Politico Magazine surveyed more than thirty smart, macro thinkers this week, and they have some news for you: Buckle in. This could be bigger…” (3/19).

Reuters: U.N. chief says global recession due to coronavirus ‘a near certainty’
“United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Thursday that a global recession ‘is a near certainty’ and current national responses to the coronavirus pandemic ‘will not address the global scale and complexity of the crisis’…” (Nichols, 3/19).

STAT: Understanding what works: How some countries are beating back the coronavirus
“With Europe and the United States locked in deadly battle with the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, a number of countries that were hit early by the virus are doing a far better job of beating it back. China, which is now diagnosing more cases in returning travelers than in people infected at home, reported no new domestically acquired cases on Wednesday, for the first time in more than two months. South Korea, which had an explosive outbreak that began in February, is aggressively battering down its epidemic curve. Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan have together reported only about 600 cases. Those successes have been bought by a layering of what are known as non-pharmaceutical initiatives — including social distancing and travel restrictions — aimed at severing chains of transmission to keep the virus from going into an exponential growth cycle…” (Branswell, 3/20).

Additional coverage of how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting nations worldwide is available from AP (2) (3), Financial Times, The Guardian, The Lancet, New Humanitarian, New York Times (2), NPR, PRI, Reuters (2) (3), Science, U.N. News (2), U.S. News & World Report, VOA News, and Washington Post.