The World Health Organisation, WHO, says the United Nations, UN, has released $15 million emergency funds to help vulnerable countries fight the Coronavirus outbreak.
WHO Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, disclosed this on the agency’s Twitter handle, @WHO.
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Ghebreyesus said that the potential spread of Coronavirus disease to countries with weaker health system was one of the agency’s biggest concerns.
WHO thanked UN Humanitarian Chief, Mark Lowcock, for releasing $15 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund, CERF, to help fund global efforts to contain the Coronavirus outbreak.
WHO is calling for $675 million to fund the fight against Coronavirus.
The UN announced on Sunday that WHO and UNICEF will use the funds to undertake essential activities such as monitoring the spread of the virus, investigating cases and operating national laboratories.
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In a statement released by Lowcock, he said that it was not too late to contain the Coronavirus outbreak.
The emergency grant would support countries with fragile health systems to boost their detection and response efforts. Lowcock said this “has the potential to save the lives of millions of vulnerable people.”
UNICEF would use its share of the funds to support the agency’s global efforts to inform children, pregnant women, and families about how to protect themselves, the agency’s Chief, Henrietta Fore, said.
“At this pivotal moment”, she said, “every effort must be made to push back against the outbreak”.
Five new countries; Azerbaijan, Ecuador, Ireland, Monaco, and Qatar have reported cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of affected countries to 58.
Globally, there were 1,739 new confirmed cases during the 24-hour reporting period between Saturday and Sunday.
