$150m to flow out of foundation’s gates

WASHINGTON: The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has announced a further $150 million (nearly R2.8billion) commitment to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

“Beating this pandemic will require an unprecedented level of international funding and co-operation,” said Microsoft founder Bill Gates, the foundation’s co-chairperson.

With the announcement, the foundation has now given $250m to fight the virus and Covid-19, the respiratory disease it causes.

The donation comes a day after US President Donald Trump said he would halt funding to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Gates foundation is among the biggest private donors to the WHO.

| EPA THE International Committee of the Red Cross distributed sanitary hygiene equipment in a prison in Dabou, Côte d’Ivoire, yesterday to help prevent the spread of Covid-19 within the prison population. Last week, President Alassane Ouattara ordered the release of 2 004 detainees to fight the spread of the virus in prisons. The country as of yesterday recorded 654 confirmed cases of Covid-19, with six deaths.