Global famines of ‘biblical proportions’ will be caused by coronavirus pandemic, UN warns
CNNLondon CNN — The world is facing multiple famines of “biblical proportions” in just a matter of months, the UN has said, warning that the coronavirus pandemic will push an additional 130 million people to the brink of starvation. Famines could take hold in “about three dozen countries” in a worst-case scenario, the executive director of the World Food Programme said in a stark address on Tuesday. “There is also a real danger that more people could potentially die from the economic impact of Covid-19 than from the virus itself.” The WFP had already warned that 2020 would be a devastating year for numerous countries ravaged by poverty or war, with 135 million people facing crisis levels of hunger or worse. “These countries may face an excruciating trade-off between saving lives or livelihoods or, in a worst-case scenario, saving people from the coronavirus to have them die from hunger,” the report said.