Coronavirus outbreak: Bill Gates Foundation committing $10 million

Coronavirus outbreak: Bill Gates Foundation committing $10 million

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Sunday announced that it is immediately committing $5 million in emergency funds and corresponding technical support to help front-line responders in China accelerate their efforts to contain the spread of 2019-nCoV.

The foundation is also immediately committing $5 million to assist the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in scaling up public health measures against 2019-nCoV among African Union member states. These measures will include technical support to implement the screening and treatment of suspected cases, laboratory confirmation of 2019-nCoV diagnoses and the safe isolation and care of identified cases, China Daily reports.

The foundation is already working with a range of Chinese public and private sector partners to accelerate national and international cooperation in areas of critical need, including efforts to identify and confirm cases, safely isolate and care for patients, and accelerate the development of treatments and vaccines.

More than 2,700 people in China are now said to have been infected by the fast-spreading coronavirus while more countries have reported their first confirmed cases, CNBC reports.

Chinese officials said, as of the end of Sunday, there are 2,744 confirmed cases, including 461 people in critical condition, as the death toll rose to 80.

China stepped up efforts to increase medical supplies to Wuhan that includes transferring 14,000 protective suits and 110,000 pairs of gloves from the central medical reserves, according to the State Council. Emergency supplies of 3 million masks, 100,000 protective suits and 2,180 pairs of goggles were also made available.

More than 1,600 medical staff are said to be sent to the Hubei province to assist in containing the virus. The central government previously said it allocated 1 billion yuan ($145 million) to support the province — Wuhan is building a 1,000-bed hospital to treat the infected and plans to have the facility operational by the end of the week.

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