Bill and Melinda Gates have pledged $100 million to coronavirus epidemic relief after the deadly novel virus has taken several hundred lives.
Shortly after the 12th confirmed case of nCoV in the U.S., the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced they would be committing a massive sum towards countering the virus on both national as well as global level.
According to the foundation, the funds will be used not only to develop vaccines but also to reinforce the processes of detection, isolation, handling, and treatment.
As for the breakdown of the funds’ distribution, some $60 million will go towards vaccine development, whereas some $20 million will be allocated to local and international agencies, including WHO and CDC.
Another $20 million will go towards nations from Asia and Africa that have recently been ravaged by disease outbreaks.
“Multilateral organizations, national governments, the private sector and philanthropies must work together to slow the pace of the outbreak, help countries protect their most vulnerable citizens and accelerate the development of the tools to bring this epidemic under control,” Mark Suzman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said.
Previously, Alibaba founder and billionaire Jack Ma has donated a whopping $100 million CNY, some $14.4 million, in order to expedite the development of coronavirus vaccine.
Mr. Ma, who is the richest man in China with a net worth of $48.2 billion, has announced he would be making a contribution towards the common threat on Wednesday, January 29.
The e-commerce giant’s founder also revealed that 40% of the funds would be directed at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the Chinese Academy of Sciences to assist scientists in the development of a vaccine for the deadly novel coronavirus.
The rest of the donation will be split between numerous other science and research institutions in China and abroad in order to encourage better control and prevention of the disease.
“Jack Ma Foundation will exhaust our abilities to provide more help to the development and growth of medical science,” the mogul’s charity announced.
The good news came shortly after Alibaba pledged $144 million towards purchasing medical supplies in order to help hospitals in the Hubei Province stock up.
In the wake of the deadly coronavirus, Chinese tycoons have banded together and donated at least $650 million towards relief efforts.
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Replaced!