The United Nations will hold a summit beginning Dec. 3 to focus on responding to the spread of COVID-19 and its effect on societies, the economy, trade and travel.

The U.N. General Assembly on Thursday voted 150-0 on a resolution to authorize the December summit, The Associated Press reported. The U.S., Israel and Armenia abstained from the vote.

The summit will reportedly include pre-recorded messages from world leaders and a discussion led by World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

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Volkan Bozkir, assembly president, called the summit “a historic moment and a test for multilateralism,” according to the AP, adding it “will be defined by our collective action on one of the most critical issues of our time.”

Countries around the world are currently experiencing new spikes in COVID-19 cases. The U.K., Germany, France and Italy have all gone into second national lockdowns to slow the spread of COVID-19.

On Wednesday, the U.S. broke a record when it reported more than 100,000 coronavirus cases in a single day for the first time. The number of cases recorded on Election Day came in at a close second place for the record.

Last week, a United Nations panel on biodiversity warned that the coronavirus crisis the world is experiencing may become commonplace, with more deadly, economically devastating viruses possibly arising in the future.

The panel said the way humans currently interact with nature, destroying habitats and over-consuming resources, results in more interaction with animals that carry viruses with the potential to infect humans.

There are currently over 850,000 viruses found in animals that could infect humans, with the U.N. panel calling this issue an “existential threat” to humanity. According to the panel, the issues that are driving global climate change are intrinsically linked to the rise of deadly viruses.

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