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The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday said that every country in the world should follow the “remarkable example” of South Korea which has been “extremely successful” in containing the coronavirus in the country and now planning to address climate change as well, as per the Associated Press report.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres mentioned “that there was no new case in the Republic of Korea,” the country’s official name.
Guterres sais that South Korea has laid plans for “a very ambitious green deal” for its recovery from the pandemic. This will include a ban on new coal-fired plants and a reduction of emissions from existing coal-fired plants.
“We hope that this example of the Republic of Korea will be followed by many other countries in the world,” Guterres said at a news conference.
The Koreas Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted in a statement early Thursday that four cases in the previous 24 hours, all imported, took the country’s total to 10,765, with 247 deaths and 9,059 recoveries.
The country is set to ease restrictions as the virus has been contained to a great extent after it recorded every rise in toll between February and early March.
The US and South Korea recorded the first confirmed case of the coronavirus on January 20.
Unlike the US, officials in South Korea used a test focused on the same gene targets as the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended test, according to the website of a test manufacturer. The government then quickly allowed private sector labs to produce it, Associated Press reported.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention decided to develop its own test, focusing on three gene targets distinct from what the WHO used. The test, however, was reportedly flawed and according to CDC data, only 472 patients had been tested nationwide on Feb. 29, with just 22 cases confirmed, AP report further added.
The result was that while South Korea came successful in curbing coronavirus, while in the US cases rose unprecedentedly.
Guterres said recovery from the pandemic “needs to go hand-in-hand with climate action.” He urged countries to that revitalization of their economies post-Covid-19 should now render importance to the creation of “green jobs" and the use of low-carbon energy sources.
“Taxpayers’ money should not be used to subsidize fossil fuels or bail out polluting carbon-intensive industries," the UN chief said. “Now is the time to put a price on carbon and for polluters to pay for their pollution," he added.
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