Health workers load a deceased person into a trailer in the Brooklyn, New York. Reuters

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the UN Security Council on Thursday that the coronavirus pandemic is threatening international peace and security - "potentially leading to an increase in social unrest and violence that would greatly undermine our ability to fight the disease.”

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He urged the UN’s most powerful body, which has been silent on COVID-19 since it started circling the globe sickening and killing tens of thousands, to unite on tackling the virus, saying its engagement will be "critical to mitigate the peace and security implications of the COVID-19 pandemic” and "would count for a lot at this anxious time.”

Medical staff member checks a patient in Seattle, Washington. File photo/AFP

The closed meeting was the first by the council on the pandemic and afterward it issued its first brief press statement expressing "support for all efforts of the secretary-general concerning the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to conflict-affected countries and recalled the need for unity and solidarity with all those affected.”

Guterres, who called for a cease-fire for all global conflicts on March 23, said the crisis has "hindered international, regional and national conflict resolution efforts, exactly when they are needed most.”

He cited other pressing risks to global security from the pandemic: militants seeing an opportunity to strike, potentially with a biological attack, the erosion of trust in public institutions, economic instability, political tensions from postponing elections, uncertainty sparking further division and turmoil in some countries, and COVID-19 "triggering or exacerbating various human rights challenges.”