Fighting against Coronavirus, the United Nation’s Central Emergency Fund has donated $15 million to fund vulnerable countries with weak health care systems to contain the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
The announcement came as the World Health Organization (WHO) upgraded the global risk of the coronavirus outbreak to ‘very high’ – its top level of risk assessment.
In a statement released last evening, the UN humanitarian chief, Mark Lowcock, says the emergency grant will support countries with fragile health systems to boost their detection and response efforts with a view of save the lives of millions of vulnerable people.
The funding will be used by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to undertake essential activities such as monitoring the spread of the virus, investigating cases, and operating national laboratories.
UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore explains that UNICEF will use its share of the funds to support global efforts to inform children, pregnant women and families about how to protect themselves.
WHO head Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the new line of funding will help vulnerable countries to protect frontline workers and treat patients appropriately.
He adds that the potential spread of the virus to countries with weaker health systems are one of the WHO’s primary concerns.
Lowcock says that despite this, it is not too late to contain COVID-19: “We do not yet see evidence that the virus is spreading freely. As long as that’s the case, we still have a chance of containing it.”
Source; URN
