The Guardian: Pressure grows for developing world debt relief over coronavirus
“Calls for a comprehensive package of debt relief to help poor countries cope with the coronavirus pandemic have intensified after research showed that more than 60 countries are spending more on paying their creditors than they are on health. … Finance ministers will discuss debt relief at virtual meetings of the G20 group of leading developed and developing countries, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank. The most likely outcome is thought to be a suspension of debt payments to other governments this year for the 76 countries classified as low-income by the World Bank because they qualify for grants and soft loans under its International Development Association (IDA) facility…” (Elliott, 4/12).

VOA News: Pakistan PM Seeks Debt Relief for Developing Nations to Fight Virus
“Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan appealed to the international community Sunday to provide developing countries with an urgent debt relief to help tackle the COVID-19 crisis facing them. Khan made his ‘global initiative on debt relief’ appeal on a day when a World Bank report warned countries in South Asia, including Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, are on course to experience their worst economic performance in 40 years in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak…” (Gul, 4/12).

Washington Post: More than 90 countries plead for financial lifelines as coronavirus wreaks economic havoc across the globe
“Global financial leaders are facing calls to speed emergency help to roughly one-half of the countries on the planet, as the coronavirus pandemic threatens to wreck the health and finances of billions of people in the developing world. The United States, Europe, and Japan are sinking into what many economists say will be the worst global recession since the 1930s amid efforts to halt the runaway respiratory illness. But deteriorating conditions in dozens of emerging markets could add to the industrial economies’ pain and complicate their eventual recovery. If left unchecked, the catastrophe descending upon countries such as South Africa, Brazil, India, and Lebanon could shake the industrialized world…” (Lynch, 4/12).

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Reuters: U.K. pledges 200 million pounds in aid to help stop second coronavirus wave
“Britain said on Sunday it was pledging 200 million pounds ($248 million) to the World Health Organization (WHO) and charities to help slow the spread of the coronavirus in vulnerable countries and so help prevent a second wave of infections…” (Holden, 4/11).

Additional coverage of the U.K.’s announcement is available from BBC and Bloomberg.

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AFRICA

The Hill: South African president extends lockdown two weeks, takes pay cut (Johnson, 4/10).

New Humanitarian: Briefing: What’s behind South Sudan’s COVID-19 inspired U.N.-backlash (Anyadike, 4/10).

Reuters: Liberia coronavirus lockdown off to chaotic start (Snyder et al., 4/12).

ASIA

NPR: An Indian State Tells Quarantined Folks: ‘A Selfie An Hour Will Keep The Police Away’ (Thiagarajan, 4/12).

NPR: With Coronavirus Lockdown, India’s Cities See Clear Blue Skies As Air Pollution Drops (Pathak, 4/10).

Reuters: South Korea reports more recovered coronavirus patients testing positive again (Smith et al., 4/13).

Reuters: India says it’s ready to tackle rising virus cases, Bangladesh announces farm relief (Bhardwaj et al., 4/12).

Reuters: North Korea calls for tougher virus curbs, but leader wears no mask in photographs (Roh, 4/11).

EUROPE

AP: As virus deaths rise, Sweden sticks to ‘low-scale’ lockdown (Keyton/Gera, 4/13).

DW: Germany to lead E.U. ‘coronavirus presidency,’ says foreign minister (Brunnersum, 4/12).

Financial Times: Boris Johnson leaves hospital as U.K. deaths top 10,000 (Hughes/Staton, 4/12).

Washington Post: Where Germany had success in fighting coronavirus, Britain stumbled (Tharoor, 4/13).

LATIN AMERICA

NPR: Many Venezuelan Hospitals Lack Basics To Function, Let Alone Handle COVID-19 (Reeves, 4/10).

Washington Post: The president has vanished; his wife, the VP, says the coronavirus isn’t a problem. Nicaragua declines to confront a pandemic (Ocampo/Sheridan, 4/12).

MIDDLE EAST

AP: U.N. Mideast envoys urge warring parties to cease fighting now (Lederer, 4/11).

Financial Times: Libyans suffer water and gas shortages as they confront Covid-19 (Saleh, 4/12).

Foreign Policy: Yemen: The Perfect Target for COVID-19 (Lynch, 4/10).

Reuters: Iran records 4,585 coronavirus deaths as restrictions eased (Hafezi, 4/13).

U.N. News: U.N. Middle East envoys urge greater action on COVID-19 ceasefire appeal (4/11).

NORTH AMERICA

AP: Groups used to serving desperately poor nations now help U.S. (Mendoza et al., 4/10).

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AP: World’s militaries face a new enemy in virus outbreak
“The coronavirus pandemic has forced militaries and militias to adapt to an invisible enemy, even as traditional conflicts grind on. Armies have had to enforce social distancing rules among troops while helping with national outbreak containment and postponing maneuvers…” (Goldenberg et al., 4/12).

Washington Post: As leaders seize powers to fight coronavirus, fear grows for democracy
“…While leaders around the world fight the spread of the coronavirus, they’re amassing sweeping new powers. As legislatures limit or suspend activities in the name of social distancing, many of the norms that define democracy — elections, deliberation and debate, checks and balances — have been put on indefinite hold. The speed and breadth of the transformation is unsettling political scientists, government watchdogs and rights groups. Many concede that emergency declarations and streamlining government decision-making are necessary responses to a global health threat. But they question how readily leaders will give up the powers they’ve accrued when the coronavirus eventually subsides…” (Birnbaum et al., 4/12).

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The Guardian: Declare abortion a public health issue during pandemic, WHO urged
“The World Health Organization is being urged to declare abortion an essential health service during the coronavirus pandemic. In guidance notes issued last week, the WHO advised all governments to identify and prioritize the health services each believed essential, listing reproductive health services as an example. Clinical guidelines published by the organization last month said that women’s right to sexual and reproductive healthcare ‘should be respected irrespective of Covid-19 status, including access to contraception and safe abortion’…” (Ford, 4/10).

Reuters: WHO is investigating reports of recovered COVID patients testing positive again
“The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday that it was looking into reports of some COVID-19 patients testing positive again after initially testing negative for the disease while being considered for discharge. South Korean officials on Friday reported 91 patients thought cleared of the new coronavirus had tested positive again. Jeong Eun-kyeong, director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told a briefing that the virus may have been ‘reactivated’ rather than the patients being re-infected…” (Nebehay, 4/11).

Reuters: WHO warns about dangers of premature lifting of COVID-19 restrictions
“The World Health Organization (WHO) warned countries on Friday to be cautious about lifting restrictions introduced to curb the spread of the new coronavirus and voiced alarm it was taking hold in Africa. The United Nations agency would like to see an easing, but at the same time ‘lifting restrictions could lead to a deadly resurgence,’ WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference…” (Nebehay/Revill, 4/10).

U.N. News: U.N. health agency working on strategies to gradually lift COVID-19 restrictions
“The World Health Organization (WHO) is working with countries on strategies to ‘gradually and safely’ ease stay-at-home restrictions aimed at containing the spread of the new coronavirus, agency chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists on Friday, though he cautioned against any sudden action…” (4/10).

U.N. News: U.N chief calls on religious leaders to unite in the fight against COVID-19
“Religious leaders of all faiths are being urged by the U.N. Secretary-General to join forces and work for peace around the world and focus on the common battle to defeat COVID-19…” (4/11).

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The Hill: House Republicans call on WHO to explain relationship with China
“Republicans on the House Oversight and Reform committee are demanding answers about the World Health Organization’s (WHO) relationship with China amid mounting congressional criticism of its response to the coronavirus outbreak…” (Brufke, 4/10).

POLITICO: Trump aides look to punish WHO
“Aides to President Donald Trump are debating some potentially far-reaching moves to punish the World Health Organization in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, including cutting off U.S. funding and trying to create an alternative institution. Officials have begun drafting a letter that — if the decision is made — will announce a suspension of U.S. funding to the WHO and a related body, the Pan American Health Organization, according to a person familiar with the issue…” (Toosi, 4/11).

POLITICO: Public health professionals plead with Trump not to defund WHO
“A trio of public health and medical professionals making the rounds on the Sunday morning news shows called for President Donald Trump not to defund the World Health Organization as the administration weighs punitive measures on the public health organization…” (Beavers, 4/12).

Additional coverage of the relationship among WHO, China, and U.S. is available from The Atlantic, CBS, POLITICO, and The Telegraph.

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AP: Signs missed and steps slowed in Trump’s pandemic response
“…When Trump spoke in Switzerland [in January], weeks’ worth of warning signs already had been raised. In the ensuing month, before the president first addressed the crisis from the White House, key steps to prepare the nation for the coming pandemic were not taken. Life-saving medical equipment was not stockpiled. Travel largely continued unabated. Vital public health data from China was not provided or was deemed untrustworthy. A White House riven by rivalries and turnover was slow to act. Urgent warnings were ignored by a president consumed by his impeachment trial and intent on protecting a robust economy that he viewed as central to his reelection chances. Twenty current and former administration officials and Republicans close to the White House were interviewed for this account about the critical weeks lost before the president spoke to the nation on Feb. 26. Most spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about private discussions…” (Lemire et al., 4/12).

The Hill: Romney, Murphy introduce bill to name global health coordinator, council amid coronavirus pandemic
“A bipartisan pair of senators introduced legislation on Friday that would require President Trump to appoint a global health coordinator and create an inter-agency council charged with preparing for pandemics. The bill, from Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah), comes after the White House garnered criticism in the midst of the coronavirus for a 2018 decision to disband the National Security Council’s global health unit, a decision former national security adviser John Bolton characterized as a ‘streamlining’…” (Carney, 4/10).

Axios: 10 times Trump and his administration were warned about coronavirus (Perano, 4/12).

CNN: Trump administration shuttered pandemic monitoring program, then scrambled to extend it (Cohen, 4/10).

Los Angeles Times: Trump, Congress scramble to revive virus-hunting agency that was marked for cuts (Rainey/Baumgaertner, 4/12).

NBC News: From Clinton to Trump, 20 years of boom and mostly bust in prepping for pandemics (Dilanian et al., 4/13).

New York Times: He Could Have Seen What Was Coming: Behind Trump’s Failure on the Virus (Lipton et al., 4/11).

POLITICO: Inside America’s 2-Decade Failure to Prepare for Coronavirus (Diamond, 4/11).

UPI: Proposed bill would require Trump to appoint global health coordinator (McCurdy, 4/11).

Washington Post: Trump administration has many task forces — but still no plan for beating covid-19 (Parker et al., 3/11).

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AP: Fauci comments on U.S. virus response seem to draw Trump’s ire (Sherman/Superville, 4/13).

The Guardian: Trump advisers doubt swift reopening as WHO official says virus will ‘stalk human race’ (Luscombe et al., 4/12).

The Hill: Trump threatens to withhold visas for countries that don’t quickly repatriate citizens (Axelrod, 4/10).

Reuters: Exclusive: South Korea set to ship coronavirus testing kits to U.S. — source (Shin et al., 4/13).

Reuters: Trump orders U.S. government to help Italy in coronavirus fight (Zargham, 4/10).

Wall Street Journal: U.S. Weighs When to Restart Economy as Europe Looks to Ease Lockdowns (Lyons/Legorano, 4/13).

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Reuters: Congo records second Ebola death in days: WHO
“Democratic Republic of Congo recorded a second Ebola death in days following more than seven weeks without a new case, the World Health Organization said on Sunday. Congo had been due on Sunday to mark an end to the second-deadliest outbreak of the virus on record, until a case was confirmed on Friday in the eastern city of Beni…” (Holland/Kambale, 4/12).

AP: Congo, weary from Ebola, must also battle the coronavirus
“Congo has been battling an Ebola outbreak that has killed thousands of people for more than 18 months, and now it must also face a new scourge: the coronavirus pandemic. Ebola has left those living in the country’s east weary and fearful, and, just as they were preparing to declare an end to the outbreak, a new case popped up. Now, they will now have to manage both threats at once. … In Congo, [coronavirus] could spread unchecked in a country that has endured decades of conflict, where corruption has left the population largely impoverished despite mineral wealth, and where mistrust of authority is so entrenched that health workers have been killed during the Ebola outbreak. It’s also unclear how forthcoming international support will be at a time when the whole world is battling the coronavirus…” (Petesch et al., 4/11).

Additional coverage of the new Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and implications for the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic is available from AP, Global Press Journal, The Hill, New York Times, Reuters, STAT, VOA News, and Washington Post.

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ABC News: Mark Green, Trump’s top foreign aid chief, departs with warning against cuts and U.S. ‘stepping back’
“Mark Green’s last day couldn’t have come at a worse time. The top U.S. official for foreign aid departed Friday as the world struggles to contain the coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump threatened to cut funding to the World Health Organization, and governments around the world battle over medical supplies in an increasingly every-country-for-itself mentality. … Green, who announced his departure on March 16, said he is leaving to ‘return to the private sector’ and thanked Trump and Vice President Mike Pence ‘for their support of me and this remarkable agency.’ But from the president’s first budget, the Trump administration has made clear that foreign aid is generally not favored, and sometimes even used as a cudgel to strong-arm smaller countries…” (Finnegan, 4/10).

Devex: What Mark Green hopes to leave behind at USAID
“…As the USAID chief steps down, the agency finds itself drawn into a global scramble for personal protective equipment, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ordering a ‘pause’ on USAID’s shipment of medical supplies to other countries to shore up America’s COVID-19 response first. … Green acknowledged that USAID is following that directive, but, he said, ‘you will continue to see us playing our leading humanitarian role — that’s for certain.’ … Green said that the global disaster declaration he signed last week will allow USAID to continue to use its International Disaster Assistance resources in support of COVID-19 relief. On Friday, he added, he would be formalizing a plan to grant USAID’s foreign service nationals greater authority over program implementation — ‘to ensure that, to the greatest extent possible, we don’t miss a beat in the work that we do, despite all of the obvious challenges that COVID presents’…” (Igoe, 4/10).

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Devex: What skills are needed for the COVID-19 response? (Smith, 4/13).

Devex: After the pandemic: How will COVID-19 transform global health and development? (Igoe/Chadwick, 4/13).

The Hill: WHO special envoy says COVID-19 will be a virus that ‘stalks the human race for quite a long time’ (Klar, 4/12).

NBC News: Despite encouraging signs, coronavirus is ‘advancing’ worldwide, WHO envoy warns (Kamisar, 4/12).

New Yorker: The Danger of COVID-19 for Refugees (Chotiner, 4/10).

NPR: What An ER Nurse Learned From Ebola Outbreak And Now COVID-19 (Stone, 4/13).

PBS: Lessons learned in the battle against Ebola (4/12).

Reuters: Two thirds of COVID-19 patients improve after Gilead drug: NEJM (Beasley, 4/10).

U.N. News: U.N. ready to support Pacific countries devastated by Tropical Cyclone Harold (4/12).

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Bloomberg: Poorer Nations Need Their Own Pandemic Toolkit
Clara Ferreira Marques, Bloomberg Opinion columnist (4/10).

CNN: The world’s fragmented coronavirus response suits Trump just fine
Stephen Collinson, White House reporter (4/12).

Daily Maverick: Covid-19: Treatments, but at what cost?
Marisol Touraine, chair of the Executive Board of Unitaid, and Malebona Precious Matsoso, director of Health Regulatory Science Platform at the Wits Health Consortium at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa and member of the Executive Board of Unitaid (4/11).

Daily Nation: You can count on United States to help Kenya in Covid-19 fight
Kyle McCarter, U.S. ambassador to Kenya (4/12).

Financial Times: Mobile cash is the best way to help Africa fight Covid-19
Faure Gnassingbé, president of Togo (4/12).

Foreign Policy: Poor Countries Need to Think Twice About Social Distancing
Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak, economics professor at Yale University and director of the Yale Research Initiative on Innovation and Scale, and Zachary Barnett-Howell, postdoctoral scholar at the Yale Research Initiative on Innovation and Scale (4/10).

The Guardian: Surely the link between abusing animals and the world’s health is now clear
Nick Cohen, columnist for the Observer (4/11).

The Guardian: ‘We’re taking matters into our own hands’: bracing for impact in Kenya
Kennedy Odede, CEO and founder of the charity Shining Hope for Communities (Shofco) (4/13).

The Guardian: Leaderless, lacking and late: a global plan to fight coronavirus is desperately needed
Simon Tisdall, foreign affairs commentator (4/11).

IPS: Gender and COVID-19: Where Can Research Help?
Jemimah Njuki, Aspen News Voices fellow (4/10).

New York Times: The Best Response to Disaster Is Resilience
Madeleine Albright, United States secretary of state from 1997 to 2001 (4/12).

New York Times: I Used to Run the CDC. Here’s What It Can Do to Slow This Pandemic.
Tom Frieden, president and chief executive of Resolve to Save Lives (4/12).

Scientific American: Disease Outbreaks Happen All the Time, But…
Kirsten Taylor-McCabe, biochemist and national defense and security program manager, and Alina Deshpande biomedical scientist and leader, both at the Biosecurity and Public Health Group (Bioscience Division) at Los Alamos National Laboratory (4/11).

Telegraph: Masks, tests, treatments, vaccines — why we need a global approach to fighting Covid-19 now
Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (4/12).

Thomson Reuters Foundation: Opinion: Liberia’s Ebola lessons can help communities beat coronavirus
Alexandra Benjamin, forest governance campaigner at Fern (4/10).

Wall Street Journal: Audit the WHO’s Pan American Arm
Mary Anastasia O’Grady, writer for “The Americas” column at the Wall Street Journal, senior editorial page writer and editorial board member at the Wall Street Journal, and member of the board of directors of the Indianapolis­-based Liberty Fund (4/12).

Washington Post: The world’s largest democracy should set a pandemic-response example. So far, it hasn’t
Editorial Board (4/11).

Washington Post: Has the coronavirus provided urgency for universal health coverage? Yes and no.
Editorial Board (4/11).

Washington Post: Now is not the time for Trump to threaten the WHO
Editorial Board (4/12).

Washington Post: Japan’s coronavirus response is too little, too late
William Pesek, writer and author (4/10).

Washington Times: Gates and Fauci: Unelected destroyers of freedom
Cheryl Chumley, online opinion editor for the Washington Times (4/11).

Washington Times: When COVID-19 threatened the world, the World Health Organization failed
Michael Graham, politics editor of New Hampshire Journal (4/11).

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Council on Foreign Relations: Women This Week: The Gendered Effects of COVID-19
This post, compiled by Maleeha Coleman and Rebecca Turkington, discusses the effects of COVID-19 on gender issues, including the rise of domestic violence amid global lockdowns, reduced access to women’s health services, and job insecurity for women (4/10).

International Rescue Committee: How to fight the coronavirus: lessons from Ebola
This blog post discusses how the International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) experience addressing Ebola in Congo and other African nations may provide insights into efforts to contain COVID-19 (4/11).

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Center for Global Development: Mark Green’s Legacy and Priorities for the Next USAID Administrator
Sarah Rose, policy fellow, and Erin Collinson, director of policy outreach, both at CGD, discuss the legacy and leadership of former USAID Administrator Mark Green, who stepped down from his position last week, and outline key priorities for the next administrator (4/10).

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Brookings Institution’s “Future Development”: New hope for fixing health system failures to prevent and treat cervical cancer
Andrea Thoumi, research director for global health at the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy, and colleagues discuss cervical cancer in Peru and highlight efforts to reduce “HPV and cervical cancer by reaching women in their homes, workplaces, and communities” (4/10).

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Center for Strategic & International Studies: Global Health Policy Center Monthly Update
In the April 2020 CSIS Global Health Policy Center Newsletter, J. Stephen Morrison, senior vice president of CSIS and director of the CSIS Global Health Policy Center (GHPC), provides a spotlight on the COVID-19 pandemic, featuring several podcast episodes hosted by Morrison and H. Andrew Schwartz, CSIS chief communications officer, on various aspects of the coronavirus outbreak; a video series on the U.S. response to COVID-19; and several analyses on the global response to the pandemic. The newsletter also features other global health-related publications, podcast episodes, and past and upcoming events hosted by CSIS (April 2020).

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White House: Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing
In this press briefing held Friday afternoon, President Trump, Vice President Pence, and members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force discuss developments regarding the U.S. response to COVID-19 (4/10).

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KFF: The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act: Summary of Key Health Provisions
On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law, marking the third and largest major U.S. legislative initiative to address COVID-19 to date. (The first was the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020, signed into law on March 6, followed by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, signed into law on March 18.) The CARES Act contains a number of health-related provisions focused on the outbreak in the United States, including paid sick leave, insurance coverage of coronavirus testing, nutrition assistance, and other programs and efforts. It also includes support for the global response. This issue brief includes summaries of key health-related provisions of the act (Moss et al., 4/9).

KFF: COVID-19 Coronavirus Tracker — Updated as of April 13, 2020 (4/13).

Additional KFF COVID-19 resources, including those focused on the response and impact within the U.S., are available here. KFF’s new blog series “Coronavirus Policy Watch” is available here.

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