WHO, IMF say saving lives 'prerequisite' to save jobs

The WHO and IMF chiefs insisted Friday that saving lives was a "prerequisite" to saving livelihoods in the coronavirus pandemic -- a crisis they called "one of humanity's darkest hours".

World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and International Monetary Fund managing director Kristalina Georgieva said getting the COVID-19 virus under control first was necessary to revive economic activity -- though they admitted it was difficult to strike the right balance.

The world economy has been pummelled by the virus and the associated lockdowns, with more than half the population of the planet under some kind of stay-at-home order to stem the spread of the pandemic.

COVID-19 has killed more than 50,000 people, while more than a million have tested positive for the virus.

"As the world responds to COVID-19, country after country is faced with the need to contain the spread of the virus at the cost of bringing its society and economy to a standstill," Tedros and Georgieva wrote in a joint article in the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph.

"At face value there is a trade-off to make: either save lives or save livelihoods. This is a false dilemma -- getting the virus under control is, if anything, a prerequisite to saving livelihoods."