Statement on international response to coronavirus (COVID-19) delivered to Parliament

Article summary

The Department for International Development (DFID) has issued a statement on the international response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Secretary of State for International Development, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, spoke in the House of Commons on the UK’s efforts towards supporting, on a global scale, the tackling of the pandemic. Trevelyan referenced the virtual Global Coronavirus Response Pledging Conference co-hosted by Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, in which the UK pledged £388m to be put towards vaccines, tests and treatments. In total, world leaders pledged approximately £6.5bn towards the coronavirus response. It is hoped that such collective efforts will lessen the effects of the crisis on communities both here and abroad. Trevelyan also commented on DFID’s work in reducing the global economic impact of the virus, detailing that DFID is supporting developing country governments to make proportionate, evidence-based trade-offs between containing the virus and maintaining open trade. Such an approach, it is hoped, will allow...