Views: Visits 11 In this file photo taken on February 4, 2020 United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press briefing at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. (Photo by Angela Weiss / AFP) The world must start preparing for the next pandemic, the United Nations has said. In a message commemorating the first observance of the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness on Sunday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the idea of a virus more lethal than COVID-19 is not incredible. “This first observance of the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness falls at the end of a year in which a scenario many had feared came tragically true,” Guterres said.