Still unexplained
The hunt for the origins of Covid-19 has for the past four years been a tangled web of politics, power struggles, and international finger-pointing.
At a video-conference summit hosted by the European Union on Monday countries around the world pledged to help develop a coronavirus vaccine and fund research into the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Around 40 countries and donors took part in an online summit hosted by the EU.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the money would help kickstart unprecedented global co-operation.
The World Health Organization hailed the billions of euros raised during the teleconference of world leaders to boost development of a coronavirus vaccine as a strong show of “global solidarity”.
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“This was a powerful and inspiring demonstration of global solidarity,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual briefing, of the 7.4 billion euros ($8.1 billion) raised towards the development and distribution of a vaccine for the virus that causes COVID-19.
Honoured to join 🇪🇺 President @vonderleyen, @eucopresident Charles Michel & 🇺🇳 Secretary-General @antonioguterres at the opening of the @EU_Commission #COVID19 pledging conference.
I thank the 🇪🇺 for their pledge of €1B – this is an incredible demonstration of global solidarity. https://t.co/OMMmwQJFMF— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) May 4, 2020
Monday’s teleconference, raised more than $8 billion for the search for a vaccine to protect against COVID-19, and especially to ensure equitable distribution once one is developed.
“This is an opportunity for the world to come together to confront a common threat, but also to forge a common future,” Tedros said.
He stressed that the money raised would only cover part of the ongoing response against the pandemic, which has killed nearly 250,000 people out of the more than 3.5 million recorded infections globally.
“In the weeks and months ahead, we will need much more to meet the demand for personal protective equipment, medical oxygen and other essential supplies,” he said.
The pandemic has infected almost 3.6 million people worldwide and claimed 251,718 lives till Tuesday according to Johns Hopkins University data.
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