Geneva, May 8 (RHC)-- The United Nations said Wednesday it needs billions of dollars in additional funding for humanitarian aid, as the pandemic sends food prices soaring even as millions of workers have lost their jobs. 

The U.N.’s humanitarian affairs office says only about half of the $2 billion in emergency funding it requested in March has arrived — although the office now says it needs nearly $7 billion to help the most vulnerable countries. 

Meanwhile, the head of the World Health Organization warns that governments that lift remain-at-home orders too quickly run the risk of new waves of coronavirus infections and deaths.  Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters: “The risk of returning to lockdown remains very real if countries do not manage the transition extremely carefully and in a phased approach.”