Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of World Health Organisation (WHO), says leaders from 40 countries have pledged to support research and development for vaccine, diagnostics and therapeutics with 7.4 billion euros. Ghebreyesus disclosed this at a news conference on Monday in Geneva, explaining that the fund would be used to carry out activities for COVID -19 research and development. In a speech posted on the WHO website, Ghebreyesus was quoted as saying: “ACT Accelerator, to...

Scores of European countries further relaxed coronavirus restrictions on Monday, with experts the world over – and residents of those countries affected – waiting to see if they strike the right balance between safety and openness. We take a look at some of the changes, although this is by no means a comprehensive list. In Austria, some 100,000 final-year students returned to vocational and high-schools for the first time since mid-March. Also on Monday, elderly...

Britain said on Monday that China had questions to answer over the information it shared about the novel coronavirus outbreak, but refused to comment on reports that a U.S.-led intelligence consortium had accused Beijing of a cover-up. The U.S. has scaled up its rhetoric over Chinese culpability for the coronavirus in recent days, with U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, saying on Sunday there was evidence the disease emerged from a Chinese lab. Washington has...

Japan is preparing to extend its state of emergency over the novel coronavirus, originally set to end on May 6, for about a month, government sources said on Thursday. Japan is planning to extend the state of emergency even as some other countries begin to reopen after strict lockdowns. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told parliament that he would consult infectious disease experts on whether to extend the emergency, which he declared on April 7...