The World Health Organization will kick off its first ever virtual assembly today, but fears abound that US-China tensions could derail the strong action needed to address the Covid-19 crisis.
The World Health Assembly, which has been trimmed from the usual three weeks to just two days, today and tomorrow, is expected to focus almost solely on Covid-19.
In a matter of months the virus has killed more than 310,000 globally and infected nearly 4.7 million. A number of heads of state, government chiefs, health ministers and other dignitaries are expected to attend the meeting, which is due to kick off around midday.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday the event would be "one of the most important (WHAs) since we were founded in