$31 billion needed to fight Covid: WHO

NEW YORK: A WHO-led coalition fighting the pandemic is asking government and private sector donors to help raise $31.3 billion in the next 12 months to develop and deliver tests, treatments and vaccines for the disease.
It said $3.4 billion had been contributed for the coalition to date, leaving a funding gap of $27.9 billion. Of that, $13.7 billion was “urgently needed”. Meanwhile, South Korea has added Gilead’s anti-viral drug Remdesivir to its treatment guidelines and urged caution in the use of the steroid therapy dexamethasone.