COVID-19 pandemic fills ranks of extreme poverty worldwide

The coronavirus pandemic is pushing the number of people worldwide who need humanitarian assistance to survive to new highs, the United Nations said on Tuesday, dramatically increasing the ranks of extreme poverty in just one year.

One in 33 people will need aid to meet basic needs like food, water and sanitation in 2021, an increase of 40 per cent from this year, the U.N. reported in its Global Humanitarian Overview 2021.