UN to set up global coronavirus fund to help poorer countries, Norway says

The United Nations will create a fund to prevent the spread of coronavirus and support the treatment of patients worldwide, Norway said on Monday. The purpose of the fund is to assist developing countries with weak health systems in addressing the crisis, as well as to tackle the pandemic's long-term consequences. The UN may make a formal announcement this week, Reuters reports.

Oslo, which suggested the fund, has not yet committed to the amount of funding it would put into the initiative, which would be similar to a 2014 UN Ebola Response Fund.

“We want to make sure that the efforts are as unified as possible and as early as possible, so that we can answer up to the demands that countries will have, especially the poorest countries,” Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soereide said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last week called on wealthy countries to not just think about their citizens but to help less-prepared nations tackle the crisis.