Apr 15, 2020 - Health

Gates Foundation ups coronavirus relief fund by $150 million

Bill Gates at the New Economy Forum in November 2019 in Beijing, China. Photo: Hou Yu/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pledged $150 million for its coronavirus relief efforts on Wednesday, on top of the $100 million committed in February.

The big picture: Tech giants like Google and Facebook have donated hundreds of millions to COVID-19 relief efforts.

Catch up quick: The $250 million in total is being used to support African and South Asian countries, vaccine development, models to project the course of COVID-19, emergency aid for students after school closures, and investing in medical supplies, the Gates Foundation says.

What they're saying: "COVID-19 doesn’t obey border laws. Even if most countries succeed in slowing the disease over the next few months, the virus could return if the pandemic remains severe enough elsewhere,” Bill Gates said in a statement on Wednesday.

  • “The world community must understand that so long as COVID-19 is somewhere, we need to act as if it were everywhere. Beating this pandemic will require an unprecedented level of international funding and cooperation.”

Go deeper: Google donates $800 million in cash and ads to fight coronavirus

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