UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was exposed to the coronavirus on Tuesday by a UN official who already had Covid-19.
Mr Guterres, 72, is isolating for the next few days and has cancelled in-person engagements, sources told AFP.
The UN chief was due to be the UN Press Association's guest of honour at its annual gala in Manhattan on Wednesday. On Thursday, he was to participate in a UN Security Council meeting on the challenges of terrorism and climate change, led by Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum.
Mr Bazoum, whose country holds the council presidency, arrived in New York on Tuesday and is expected to stay until the end of the week when he heads to Washington.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric declined to comment on Mr Guterres's condition.
Mr Dujarric indicated a few days ago that Mr Guterres had recently received his third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. He hesitated about receiving the booster shot as millions of people around the world are yet to receive their first jab.
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Springtime in a Broken Mirror,
Mario Benedetti, Penguin Modern Classics
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.