American billionaire Bill Gates and his wife Melinda have now donated US$250 million for coronavirus initiatives across the world. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is pledging an additional US$150 million in grant funding to help fight the coronavirus outbreak with diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines. The American billionaire pledged the extra US$150 million on top of US$100 million he committed in February for the WHO, following an appeal by the health body for funding. Even if most countries succeed in slowing the disease over the next few months, the virus could return if the pandemic remains severe enough elsewhere,” Bill Gates said in a statement on Wednesday. The US$250 million in total is being used to support African and South Asian countries, vaccine development, models to project the course of the virus, emergency aid for students after school closures, and investing in medical supplies, the Gates Foundation says, Axios reports.-Photo: ABC

Source: The Standard April 16, 2020 03:00 UTC