There has been positive coverage in newspapers and online outlets of DFID’s announcement of an extra £200 million of aid to help charities and global organisations tackle coronavirus in vulnerable countries.
It includes pieces in BBC News online, Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph, MailOnline, Daily Mirror, CityAM, Evening Standard, The Independent, Reuters and Bloomberg. The story is on the front page of the BBC News website which includes the full details of the announcement, and Secretary of State’s quote. Her quote has also been included in the Reuters story which has been picked up internationally in outlets such as the New York Times and Sydney Morning Herald, and reads:
"While our brilliant doctors and nurses fight coronavirus at home, we're deploying British expertise and funding around the world to prevent a second deadly wave reaching the UK.
"Coronavirus does not respect country borders so our ability to protect the British public will only be effective if we strengthen the healthcare systems of vulnerable developing countries too."
The front pages of the Sunday Times and Sunday Telegraph today reference this new support. In a wider piece about the disease, The Sunday Times reports “Britain is to send £200m from the aid budget to the World Health Organization and other groups in defiance of Donald Trump who has vowed to cut cash to it”.
The Sunday Telegraph reports Bill Gates has issued a call for world leaders to fight coronavirus. It includes the UK aid announcement and says the £200m brings the total the UK has committed to fighting coronavirus to £744 million, noting that this is one of the largest contributions worldwide. This story is also covered by Press Association, the Guardian’s coronavirus live updates and Yahoo! Finance.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, has tweeted thanking DFID and the UK Government for this support, as has the International Committee of the Red Cross in the UK & Ireland. Julian Braithwaite, UK Permanent Representative to the WTO & UN in Geneva, and businesswoman Deborah Meaden have also tweeted about the announcement.
There is also coverage of the story in international news outlets, including Bangladeshi website The Financial Express, the Fijian Broadcasting Corporation’s website, Australian outlets ABC and The Sydney Morning Herald, Malaysian websites MalaysiaKini, Free Malaysia Today and The Sun Daily, UAE news provider The National, Singapore newspaper The Straits Times, Indian outlet Republic World, international news website RT.com and Canadian news provider Global News.