Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation donates $100 million to fight coronavirus

With the 2019 novel coronavirus spreading across India and China, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Thursday announced that it will immediately commit up to $100 million for the global response.

“Multilateral organisations, national governments, the private sector and philanthropies must work together to slow the pace of the outbreak, help countries protect their most vulnerable citizens and accelerate the development of the tools to bring this epidemic under control. Our hope is that these resources will help catalyze a rapid and effective international response. This response should be guided by science, not fear, and it should build on the steps that the World Health Organisation has taken to date,” said Mark Suzman, CEO, Gates Foundation.

The funding will help strengthen detection, isolation and treatment efforts; protect at-risk populations; and develop vaccines, treatments and diagnostics. It will be directed to multilateral organisations such as WHO and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and national public health authorities in China and other countries that have reported confirmed cases.

As of Thursday, the death toll in China has increased to 563, while the number of confirmed cases also rose to 28,018.

*Edited from an IANS report.