DHARAMSALA: As the world grapples with coronavirus, the Dalai Lama urged people to unite and give a "coordinated, global response" to challenges posed by it.

The Tibetan spiritual leader also noted that the economic disruption caused by the spread of the virus is posing a major challenge to governments and is undermining the ability of people to make a living.

"This crisis and its consequences serve as a warning that only by coming together in a coordinated, global response, will we meet the unprecedented magnitude of the challenges we face. I pray we all heed 'The Call to Unite'," the Noble Peace prize winner said in a post on his official website on Sunday. The Tibetan government-in-exile is based in Himachal Pradesh's Dharamsala.

"In this time of crisis, we face threats to our health and sadness for the family and friends we have lost. Economic disruption is posing a major challenge to governments and undermining the ability of so many people to make a living," he said.

The 14th Dalai Lama said people must focus on what unites them as members of one human family and reach out to each other with compassion.

"As human beings, we are all the same. We experience the same fears, the same hopes, the same uncertainties, yet we are also united by a desire for happiness. Our human capacity to reason and to see things realistically and clearly give us the ability to transform hardship into opportunity," he said.

The number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 39,980 while toll rose to 1,301, according to the health ministry’s Sunday morning update.

Golabally, the virus has infected 34.26 lakh people and killed at least 2.43 lakh people, according to John Hopkins tracker.

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