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It is midday on Saturday and smoke rises off the grill even though the doors are closed at the Timesburg restaurant in Barcelona.

The chefs are making hamburgers, not to be served at tables but packed up and delivered to doctors, nurses and other health staff on the front line of Spain's battle against coronavirus.

"Contributing in any way we can at the moment makes us feel better," Vanessa, one of the cooks, tells AFPTV as she garnishes the burgers, wraps them up and loads them into takeout bags.

Bars and restaurants have been closed in Spain since the middle of March but a dozen of them have joined forces with delivery companies as part of an initiative called "Delivery for Heroes".

Every day, between 200 and 300 dishes are prepared and donated to Barcelona's hospitals, in the hope of offering some solace to those trying to save lives inside.

The global demand for hand sanitisers and other hygiene products has risen because of the coronavirus pandemic.

And, in the United States and some other countries, there has also been a surge in complaints about profiteering and opportunism.

As doctors combat the virus, prosecutors are pursuing the opportunistic villains who prey on the fearful.

Lebanon's President Michel Aoun on Monday called on international donors to provide financial assistance to the crisis-hit country as it grapples with a severe economic downturn compounded by the coronavirus.

Speaking during a meeting of the International Support Group for Lebanon, he specifically urged donors to unlock $11 billion in grants and loans they pledged during a Paris conference in April 2018.

The call comes as his government prepares to launch a long-awaited reform plan demanded by international partners.

"Given the danger of our current financial situation, and its significant economic impact on nationals, residents, and refugees, our reform programme will need external financial support," Aoun told ambassadors from countries in the support group at the presidential palace in Baabda.

Politicians and top civil servants in Rwanda will have their salaries this month redirected to welfare programmes to help the poor cope with the economic impact of the coronavirus.

Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente said the salary sacrifice would show "solidarity" with the people, who have been under a tough lockdown and strict curbs on freedoms to contain the spread of the virus.

"The government of Rwanda has decided, over and above ongoing social protection initiatives, that all cabinet members, permanent secretaries, heads of public institutions and other senior officials shall forfeit one month's salary (April)," he said in a statement on Sunday.

Kinshasa on Monday closed off its upmarket business district for two weeks and began a large-scale disinfection operation in a bid to clean up DR Congo's main suspected source of coronavirus.

Access to Gombe, which houses the country's main institutions and foreign embassies, was barricaded off to everyone except local residents with a pass, an AFP journalist saw.

"The choice of this district is linked to the fact that it's from Gombe that the virus is spreading little by little to other districts," the health authorities said in a daily statement.

"Massive disinfection has been scheduled during this period. The offices and main buildings in Gombe district are concerned. Once everything has been cleaned in Gombe, other areas will targeted," it said.

Indonesia's capital Jakarta has launched a special police unit to guard the burials of coronavirus victims over concerns that scared residents could try to block funerals, authorities said on Monday.

The move comes days after angry mobs in several cities on Sulawesi island and in Central Java blocked streets to prevent ambulances from transporting victims of the deadly illness to local cemeteries.

Launched at the weekend, the 120-strong Jakarta team will watch over victims' bodies as they are taken from hospitals to two cemeteries in the sprawling city, where virus corpses are being wrapped in plastic and quickly buried.

"We've seen cases in other cities and we don't want such a thing to happen in Jakarta so that's why we immediately formed the team as a preventative measure," said Mokhamad Ngajib, head of the new unit.

- AFP