Leaders to give global economy £4tn boost
WORLD leaders have vowed a £4trillion injection to bolster the global economy amid the pandemic’s ravages.
In an extraordinary conference call, G20 leaders including Boris Johnson, US President Donald Trump and French premier Emmanuel Macron pledged to pump in trillions of pounds.
In a statement after their 90-minute summit, leaders said: “We commit to do whatever it takes and to use all available policy tools to minimize the economic and social damage from the pandemic, restore global growth, maintain market stability and strengthen resilience.
“We are undertaking immediate and vigorous measures to support our economies; protect workers, businesses – especially micro, small and medium-sized enterprises – and sectors most affected; and shield the vulnerable through adequate social protection.
“We are injecting over $5tn (£4.1tn) into the global economy as part of targeted fiscal policy, economic measures and guarantee schemes to counteract the social, economic and financial impacts of the pandemic.”
After the meeting, Mr Johnson poured £210million of taxpayer cash into efforts to develop a coronavirus vaccine.
The money will go to the Norway-based Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, which needs $2bn more for the work.
Britain had already pledged £40m and the sum announced by the Prime Minister last night is the biggest single grant from any country to the Coalition, which includes an Oxford University team.
Mr Johnson said: “While our brilliant doctors and nurses fight coronavirus at home, this record British funding will help to find a vaccine for the entire world.
“UK medics and researchers are at the forefront of this pioneering work.
“My call to every G20 country and governments around the world is to step up and help us defeat this virus.”
Last night’s announcement takes the amount of UK aid committed to fighting the disease to £544m.
TELLY veteran Angela Rippon, 75, and Mr Motivator, 67, will join BBC HealthCheck UK Live to offer tips on being happy and healthy at home.
THE filthy conditions in Asia’s wildlife markets, where live animals are flogged as exotic pets or butchered for food, are a “ticking time bomb” for new deadly pandemics, experts say.
Coronavirus is thought to have jumped from animals to humans at a “wet” market in Wuhan, China.
A pangolin infected by bats is widely believed to be the source of the outbreak.
Previous killer diseases SARS and bird flu were traced to similar sites and China has now banned the sale and consumption of wildlife to “safeguard public health and ecological security”, under orders from President Xi Jinping.
Yet multiple species are still being crammed together, slaughtered and sold in filthy conditions, contaminated with blood and faeces, at countless markets in other Asian countries.
Major wildlife trafficking supply chains that originate in Africa and Latin America supply Burma, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.
And body parts are still being hawked in many countries by traders, most of whom use a single knife to butcher all of their animals.
While the trade worth up to the £58billion a year continues, conservationists warn it is just a matter of time before the emergence of another killer disease.
Urging all countries to follow China’s lead to announce a blanket ban, Prof Andrew Cunningham, of the Zoological Society of London, said ending wet markets was “the highest priority for protection of human health”.
And Steve
Galster founder of Freeland, a Bangkok-based anti-trafficking group warned: “Wuhan is a major wake-up call
– mother nature’s revenge.
“The way to prevent further outbreaks is to stop the trade. China has put in place a ban, but this needs to be permanent as it is the biggest importer of wildlife in the world.
“Most wildlife is trafficked by gangsters. This is not a regulated