UN agencies warned Monday that the coronavirus pandemic could lead to the deaths of an additional 51,000 under-fives in the Middle East and North Africa by the end of the year. The World Health Organisation and United Nations children’s agency UNICEF said the disruption of essential health and nutrition services risked “reversing progress (on) child survival in the region by nearly two decades”. “While we do not have many cases of COVID-19 among children in the region, it is evident that the pandemic is affecting children’s health firsthand,” the agencies warned.