Governments should increase funding for psychological services, as their demand has increased significantly, said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

His remarks came Wednesday during the presentation of the report on maintaining the psychological health of people during a pandemic, TASS reported.

The Secretary-General noted that the threat of the disease, deaths of loved ones, the need to stay at home have become a difficult psychological test for many people globally. 

According to him, psychosocial services should be an important part of government action during the COVID-19 pandemic, should be expanded, and should receive full funding.

As he noted, quarantine measures can especially severely affect those who already had psychological deviations.

The Secretary-General also expressed hope that psychological assistance will be included in general health programs as countries recover from the pandemic.