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Governments in areas with widespread COVID-19 transmission should encourage the use of non-medical masks on public transport, in shops and in other locations where physical distancing is difficult, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends, in updated guidance published on Friday.

The novel coronavirus has arrived in Lebanon, a small country already reeling under a serious economic and financial crisis, an ongoing refugee crisis, and persistent mass anti-government protests. “In Lebanon, this crisis comes at an already extraordinary difficult time economically, financially and socially,” said UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon ad interim, Claudio Cordone.

Every year the world celebrates World Environment Day on 5 June, a day dedicated to focusing efforts of the governments, businesses and citizens on pressing environmental issues.

António Guterres on Wednesday launched the latest UN policy briefing on the pandemic, which reminds countries of their obligation to protect people on the move, who number more than 70 million globally, according to data from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

“No country can fight the pandemic or manage migration alone. But together, we can contain the spread of the virus, buffer its impact on the most vulnerable and recover better for the benefit of all”, he said in a video message accompanying the launch.

The fight against COVID-19 has severely disrupted services to prevent and treat cancer, diabetes, hypertension and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) which kill more than 40 million people each year, according to a new survey published on Monday by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The UN agency said the situation is concerning as people living with these diseases are more vulnerable to becoming severely ill or dying from the new coronavirus infection.

Thirty countries and numerous international partners have underlined the need to make tests, treatments and other technologies to fight COVID-19, available to people everywhere.

They have signed up to support the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP), a “one-stop shop” for sharing scientific knowledge, data and intellectual property in efforts to beat back the disease.

As businesses struggle to cope with the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, they need to remain aware of their responsibilities as partners in efforts to build a sustainable future, says the outgoing head of the UN Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative.

In Lebanon, the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the country at a time of instability. In this context, its secondary effects on domestic violence, the gender gap in employment and on unpaid work, risk disproportionately impacting women and girls, and rolling back hard-won gender equality gains.

The UN human rights chief on Thursday condemned the killing of 46-year-old George Floyd while in police custody in the city of Minneapolis, calling it the latest in “a long line of killings of unarmed African Americans by US police officers and members of the public”.

In observance of the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, on Friday, Secretary-General António Guterres will lay a wreath to pay tribute to all the UN blue helmets who have lost their lives since 1948.

“[We] honour more than one million men and women who have served as United Nations peacekeepers and the more than 3,900 who have lost their lives in the line of duty”, he said in a video message for the occasion.