Devex: U.N. announces $2B plan to help ‘ultravulnerable’ combat COVID-19
“United Nations leaders have launched a $2 billion global humanitarian funding appeal for COVID-19, aiming to get ahead of the global health pandemic before it hits vulnerable populations and weak health systems across South America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. … All U.N. agencies, including UNICEF and the World Health Organization, will work jointly to implement the new response plan, overseen by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The implementation will reflect the ‘tried and tested’ approach the U.N. last used during the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak, OCHA head Mark Lowcock said during the briefing…” (Lieberman, 3/26).

Financial Times: Global lenders seek debt relief for poorest countries
“The IMF and World Bank have called on governments to offer immediate debt relief to the world’s poorest countries to help them tackle the coronavirus outbreak. … Campaigners say the pandemic will put unsustainable pressure on governments with public finances already under stress and with health systems ill-prepared for the crisis…” (Strauss/Wheatley, 3/25).

The Guardian: Coronavirus threatens to turn aid crises into ‘humanitarian catastrophes’
“Stringent new international restrictions on movement introduced because of the coronavirus pandemic are threatening the lives of millions of people across the world already caught up in humanitarian emergencies. U.N. agencies, aid groups, and international experts have warned that the new restrictions, which have closed borders and ports, and severely limited the movement of key staff from Africa to South America and Asia, threaten a ‘dramatic’ knock-on effect in countries suffering from conflict, extreme climate events, and other crises…” (Beaumont, 3/25).

U.N. News: U.N. launches major humanitarian appeal to keep COVID-19 from ‘circling back around the globe’
“…The U.N. chief stressed that a global approach is the only way to fight the coronavirus. ‘COVID-19 is menacing the whole of humanity — and so the whole of humanity must fight back,’ he said, underscoring that ‘individual country responses are not going to be enough.’ Assisting the ‘ultra-vulnerable’ — the millions upon millions of people who are least able to protect themselves — is not only ‘a matter of basic human solidarity’ but also crucial for combating the virus, according to Mr. Guterres…” (3/25).

Additional coverage of the U.N.’s $2 billion appeal and other international efforts to combat COVID-19 is available from New Humanitarian, New York Times, Reuters, U.N. News, and Washington Post.

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AFRICA

Global Voices: Across Africa, COVID-19 heightens tension between faith and science (Lichtenstein et al., 3/25).

The Hill: Doctors, nurses in Zimbabwe strike over lack of protective equipment to fight coronavirus (Deese, 3/25).

New Humanitarian: In the news: Uganda suspends refugee arrivals as coronavirus cases rise (Okiror, 3/25).

ASIA

AP: Bangladesh’s leader urges all citizens to stay at home (Alam, 3/25).

NPR: Quarantined In India: No Soap, Dirty Toilets, Not Enough Coronavirus Tests (Pathak/Frayer, 3/25).

Reuters: Malaysia reports 235 new coronavirus cases in biggest daily jump (Sipalan/Ananthalakshmi, 3/26).

Washington Post: China’s claim of coronavirus victory in Wuhan brings hope, but experts worry it is premature (Rauhala, 3/25).

EUROPE

AP: E.U. leaders battle coronavirus on health, economic fronts (Cook, 3/25).

NPR: Behind Germany’s Relatively Low COVID-19 Fatality Rate (Schmitz, 3/25).

Reuters: Mass testing explains Germany’s relatively low death rate from coronavirus: virologist (Escritt, 3/26).

Reuters: U.K. orders 10,000 ventilators from Dyson for coronavirus patients (Sandle et al., 3/25).

VOA: European Governments Scramble for Ventilators, Urge Shoppers to Stop Panic Buying (Dettmer, 3/24).

LATIN AMERICA

New Humanitarian: In Venezuela, a pandemic meets years of shortages and a broken health system (Rojo/Collins, 3/25).

NPR: Why Hand Washing, Needed To Thwart COVID-19, Is A Problem In Mexico (Kahn, 3/26).

NPR: In Brazil, Bolsonaro Doubles Down On ‘Exaggerated’ Coronavirus (Reeves, 3/25).

Reuters: After smallpox and malaria, Brazil’s tribes fear coronavirus is next lethal import (Boadle, 3/25).

Reuters: Chile’s coronavirus outbreak surpasses 1,000-case mark (Sherwood, 3/25).

Washington Post: Brazil’s Bolsonaro, channeling Trump, dismisses coronavirus measures — it’s just ‘a little cold’ (McCoy/Traiano, 3/25).

MIDDLE EAST

Bloomberg: Iran Now Welcomes Medical Charity MSF’s Help Fighting Virus (Motevalli, 3/25).

New York Times: Fresh From Iran’s Coronavirus Zone, Now Moving Across Afghanistan (Faizi/Zucchino, 3/26).

U.N. News: U.N. chief calls for ceasefire as Yemen braces for possible COVID-19 outbreak (3/25).

NORTH AMERICA

POLITICO: Canada turns inward as pandemic surges within and beyond its borders (Gardner, 3/25).

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ABC: Pompeo pushes ‘Wuhan virus’ label to counter Chinese disinformation
“President Donald Trump said he no longer needs to refer to the novel coronavirus as the ‘Chinese virus,’ but his top diplomat is continuing to tie the outbreak to the Chinese city where it first exploded, as a way to push back on what he called the Chinese Communist Party’s ‘disinformation campaign’…” (Finnegan, 3/25).

AFP: Pompeo attacks Chinese virus campaign at G7 as Europeans seek cooperation
“U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday that the Group of Seven powers were united in opposing China’s coronavirus ‘disinformation,’ but European allies emphasized cooperation to fight the global pandemic. Foreign ministers from the major industrialized democracies spoke about the crisis by videoconference, scrapping a meeting scheduled in Pittsburgh, but any hope of showing a common front was eroded by the absence of a joint statement…” (Tandon, 3/26).

AP: G-7 foreign ministers spar over coronavirus amid pandemic
“…U.S. and European diplomats said the ministers were unable to agree on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s call for the virus to be identified by name as the ‘Wuhan virus.’ As a result, just a day after G-7 finance ministers and central bankers issued a joint communique referring to the COVID-19 virus, the foreign ministers opted against releasing a group statement. U.S, officials pointed to Tuesday’s finance ministers’ statement to reject suggestions of G-7 disunity and said the foreign ministers had never intended to release their own communique…” (Lee, 3/25).

The Hill: Pompeo pressed G-7 leaders to refer to ‘Wuhan virus’ in statement: report
“…When asked about the report at a media availability teleconference, Pompeo, who repeatedly referred to the coronavirus as the ‘Wuhan virus,’ did not deny the reports. Pompeo appeared to double-down on his rhetoric in an attempt to hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable for its handling of the virus. ‘We’ve wanted to work with the Chinese Communist Party throughout this crisis — this crisis that began in Wuhan, China,’ Pompeo said. ‘We tried, you’ll remember, from the opening days to get our scientists, our experts on the ground there so that we could begin to assist in the global response to what began there in China, but we weren’t able to do that. The Chinese Communist Party wouldn’t permit that to happen.’ ‘The Chinese Communist Party poses a substantial threat to our health and way of life, as the Wuhan virus outbreak clearly has demonstrated,’ Pompeo added…” (Moreno, 3/25).

Reuters: Pompeo says G7 discussed China’s coronavirus ‘disinformation’
“…He said now was not the time to apportion blame, but to focus on ways to resolve the crisis, which was what the G7 nations concentrated on in their meeting. ‘But every one of the nations that was at that meeting this morning was deeply aware of the disinformation campaign that the Chinese Communist Party is engaged in to try and deflect from what has really taken place here,’ Pompeo added” (Mohammed et al., 3/25).

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Fox News: World Health Organization director praises Trump’s leadership in response to coronavirus pandemic
“The head of the World Health Organization on Wednesday praised President Trump for his leadership in handling the novel coronavirus outbreak and said the president is ‘taking responsibility’ for leading the United States’ response to the global pandemic. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the United Nations health agency has repeatedly called for the heads of state to lead a ‘whole of government’ response to COVID-19 and said Trump was leading by example. ‘That’s exactly what he’s doing, which we appreciate because fighting this pandemic needs political commitment,’ Tedros said during an afternoon press briefing in Geneva…” (Chakraborty, 3/25).

POLITICO: Trump can’t decide whether to blame China for the coronavirus
“…Since January, President Donald Trump has wavered repeatedly on China’s culpability for the coronavirus pandemic, a tactic his outside advisers say is helping counteract Chinese propaganda, creating a 2020 reelection argument, and protecting years of on-again-off-again trade negotiations with the Asian power. To his critics, it’s merely a typical Trump attempt to shift blame…” (Kumar, 3/26).

POLITICO: Trump team failed to follow NSC’s pandemic playbook
“…[A]ccording to a previously unrevealed White House playbook, the government should’ve begun a federal-wide effort to procure that personal protective equipment at least two months ago. … The strategies are among hundreds of tactics and key policy decisions laid out in a 69-page National Security Council playbook on fighting pandemics, which POLITICO is detailing for the first time. Other recommendations include that the government move swiftly to fully detect potential outbreaks, secure supplemental funding and consider invoking the Defense Production Act — all steps in which the Trump administration lagged behind the timeline laid out in the playbook…” (Diamond/Toosi, 3/25).

Washington Post: The U.S. traditionally leads in times of crisis. Now it’s practicing self-isolation.
“As America’s rivals make gestures of support for other nations stricken by the coronavirus, the United States is losing the geopolitical contest prompted by the epidemic while struggling to contain the virus at home, analysts say. At a time when the world would typically look to the richest and most powerful nation for leadership in a crisis, the United States has instead retreated into its own form of self-isolation, with its president downplaying the severity of the threat and top American officials squabbling among themselves. Instead, the United States’ rivals, notably China and to a lesser extent Russia, have been stepping up to offer aid to other stricken nations, a role long fulfilled by the United States in crises stretching back to World War II…” (Sly et al., 3/26).

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Reuters: Exclusive: U.S. slashed CDC staff inside China prior to coronavirus outbreak
“The Trump administration cut staff by more than two-thirds at a key U.S. public health agency operating inside China, as part of a larger rollback of U.S.-funded health and science experts on the ground there leading up to the coronavirus outbreak, Reuters has learned. Most of the reductions were made at the Beijing office of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and occurred over the past two years, according to public CDC documents viewed by Reuters and interviews with four people familiar with the drawdown. … The CDC’s China headcount has shrunk to around 14 staffers, down from approximately 47 people since President Donald Trump took office in January 2017, the documents show. The four people, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the losses included epidemiologists and other health professionals…” (Taylor, 3/25).

Reuters: Partly false claim: Trump fired pandemic response team in 2018
“Numerous posts and images circulated on social media make the claim that President Donald Trump fired the ‘entire pandemic response team’ in 2018 … The Global Health Security and Biodefense unit — responsible for pandemic preparedness — was established in 2015 by Barack Obama’s National Security Advisor, Susan Rice. The unit resided under the National Security Council (NSC) — a forum of White House personnel that advises the president on national security and foreign policy matters. In May 2018, the team was disbanded and its head Timothy Ziemer, top White House official in the NSC for leading U.S. response against a pandemic, left the Trump administration, the Washington Post reported. … There is disagreement over how to describe the changes at the NSC’s Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense in 2018. The departure of some members due to ‘streamlining’ efforts under John Bolton is documented. The ‘pandemic response team’ as a unit was largely disbanded” (3/25).

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CNN: Wednesday has been deadliest day in reported coronavirus deaths in U.S.
“More than 200 deaths from Covid-19 were reported Wednesday in the United States — a new high for fatalities recorded in a single day. The dramatic spike brought the number of novel coronavirus deaths since the outbreak reached the United States in late January to at least 928. Sunday morning — less than four days ago — the nationwide total was 326 deaths, according to CNN data derived from state reports. … At the White House coronavirus task force news conference, President Donald Trump said: ‘The more aggressively we commit to social distancing … the more lives we can save’…” (McLaughlin et al., 3/26).

Fox News: Senate OKs $2T coronavirus stimulus package in unanimous vote; House sets Friday vote
“By a vote of 96-0, the Senate passed a massive $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus compromise package just before midnight Wednesday, ending days of deadlock and sending the bill to the House of Representatives — which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said will soon take up the historic measure to bring relief to individuals, small businesses, and larger corporations ‘with strong bipartisan support.’ The 880-page legislation is the largest economic relief bill in U.S. history…” (Re, 3/25).

NPR: As The Coronavirus Crisis Heats Up, Why Isn’t America Hearing From The CDC?
“…The CDC normally takes the lead in outbreaks, ranging from the 2009 flu pandemic to Ebola to the lung injuries caused by vaping. Its recent absence from the national stage has led to fears that the agency’s objective, science-based approach is being ignored, especially as Trump signals that he hopes to relax restrictions on social gatherings by Easter to help revive the economy…” (Greenfieldboyce, 3/25).

Additional coverage of the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S. is available from NPR, USA TODAY, and Washington Post.

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Devex: DFID goes quiet on COVID-19 response
“The U.K.’s international response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been criticized by insiders as ‘disappointing’ and poorly communicated. … With the pandemic continuing to gather pace, concerns are rising about the potential impact in low-income countries. The U.K. on March 6 announced a £46 million ($60 million) aid package to support vaccine and diagnostics development, and it was praised for supporting a rapid test to be produced in Senegal. It later said it would commit up to £150 million for the International Monetary Fund’s Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust to help lower-income countries deal with the economic fallout of the crisis. However, despite holding the world’s third-largest aid budget and a force of aid workers around the world, there has been no further word on plans for the U.K.’s international response…” (Worley, 3/26).

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The Atlantic: All the Coronavirus Statistics Are Flawed (Thompson, 3/26).

The Atlantic: How the Pandemic Will End (Yong, 3/25).

Science Magazine: Mathematics of life and death: How disease models shape national shutdowns and other pandemic policies (Enserink/Kupferschmidt, 3/25).

STAT: What we’ve learned about the coronavirus — and what we still need to know (Branswell, 3/26).

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Financial Times: The global hunt for a coronavirus drug | Free to read (Kuchler et al., 3/26).

Financial Times: Gilead asks to rescind special status for potential coronavirus drug (Mancini et al., 3/25).

Nature: How blood from coronavirus survivors might save lives (Maxmen, 3/24).

NBC: Tracking the development of coronavirus treatments (Siegel, 3/25).

STAT: Under intense criticism, Gilead forsakes monopoly status for its experimental Covid-19 drug (Silverman, 3/25).

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Devex: What has Trump’s flagship women’s initiative achieved so far?
“A year in, the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative is getting mixed reviews from development and gender experts — the whole-of-government effort to narrow the economic gender gap is broadly praised, but some of the details leave room for improvement. There is widespread, bipartisan support for the program in general, as evidenced by bills making their way through both chambers of Congress in a push to codify the initiative. W-GDP launched in February 2019 with the goal of reaching 50 million women by 2025 through three pillars of work: improving access to vocational training and helping women secure jobs; supporting women entrepreneurs through access to capital and networks; and removing legal, regulatory, and cultural barriers to women’s economic participation…” (Saldinger, 3/26).

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Devex: 4 ways to make WASH projects climate resilient
“How do you ensure WASH projects can withstand extreme weather events? Devex speaks to water and sanitation experts to find out…” (Root, 3/25).

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New York Times: This Coronavirus Crisis Is the Time to Ease Sanctions on Iran
Editorial Board

“Iran is in terrible shape. It is among the countries worst hit by the coronavirus … Sanctions have choked its economy. … Does that mean the United States should tighten sanctions further in the hope that the ‘maximum pressure’ strategy will compel Tehran to toe Washington’s line? Or should it loosen sanctions to help Iranians and show them that America’s argument is not with the people? The choice seems obvious. Demonstrating compassion in times of crisis is good foreign policy, and in this case it may actually help achieve the goals the Trump administration is pursuing. … Suspending sanctions, clearing the [International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan for emergency funding], and offering help, real help, may not make the Iranian government less dangerous. But it’s what America should be doing as a great nation, and unlike the alternative, it does hold out the possibility of making Iran less dangerous” (3/25).

Washington Post: America should help contain Iran’s spiking coronavirus epidemic
Editorial Board

“Iran, like the United States, is fighting a so-far failing war against the novel coronavirus, which according to expert studies could kill millions in both countries if it is not contained. Yet neither the Trump administration nor the regime of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has let this unprecedented emergency distract them from their war against each other. … At a time of an extraordinary humanitarian crisis, the Trump administration is stepping up ‘maximum pressure’ measures that increase hardship for a nation of 80 million. To what end? Neither the collapse nor the capitulation of the regime seems a likely result. Instead, the United States is being blamed by ordinary Iranians as well as other nations for making it more difficult for authorities to combat the epidemic. … [I]nstead of escalating sanctions, [President Trump] ought to be offering Iran the chance to ease tensions through mutual humanitarian actions. … [T]he administration should support Iran’s request to the International Monetary Fund for emergency aid. The confrontation Mr. Trump initiated with Iran has manifestly failed to achieve its aims. The coronavirus epidemic offers him the opportunity to correct course while helping to contain one dangerous focal point of the pandemic” (3/25).

Washington Post: Will our democracy still work with coronavirus?
Editorial Board

“…At a time of partisan polarization and a looming presidential election, can our elected representatives in Washington rise above politics and serve the public interest? The admittedly provisional, answer, late Wednesday, was ‘yes’ as the Senate struggled to overcome the last few objections to a $2 trillion emergency measure to salvage the U.S. economy and support health care. … Undoubtedly the bill is not ideal, and likely even less perfect, in its details, than we can yet know. Yet what is at stake is not — repeat, not — a bailout or a subsidy or even a stimulus. It is economic life support, an attempt to sustain consumers and producers, from the most modest household to the biggest business, through unprecedented global stress for which they are all basically blameless. There is, to be sure, extra responsibility on large corporations for whom the bill is providing a kind of nationalized catastrophic business insurance. They should respond by augmenting those voluntary measures to help employees and the public that many companies have already taken. If shut-down car factories can be retooled to make ventilators, they must be; if, say, cargo holds of idled passenger airliners are needed to ship vital supplies, use them. Against all the odds and many expectations, Congress may be doing its job. All the more reason for other institutions, public and private, to keep on doing theirs” (3/25).

Washington Post: Trump is spreading false hope for a virus cure — and that’s not the only damage
Editorial Board

“…Widespread testing for drug safety and efficacy is essential. … While hydroxychloroquine has already been approved for malaria, it has not been tested in this way for the coronavirus. … The most promising answer to the pandemic will be a vaccine, and researchers are racing to develop one. Mr. Trump’s inappropriate hype [around using hydroxychloroquine to treat novel coronavirus] has already led to hoarding of hydroxychloroquine and diverted supplies from people with other maladies who need it. His comments are raising false hopes. Rather than roll the dice on an unproven therapy, let’s deposit our trust in the scientists” (3/25).

The Atlantic: Why America Is Uniquely Unsuited to Dealing With the Coronavirus
Uri Friedman, staff writer at the Atlantic (3/25).

Bloomberg: Coronavirus Feeds on Latin America’s Political Gap
Mac Margolis, Bloomberg opinion columnist (3/25).

Devex: Opinion: Spend what it takes to fight COVID-19 in poor countries, too
Masood Ahmed, president of the Center for Global Development (3/25).

Financial Times: If Covid-19 is not beaten in Africa it will return to haunt us all
Abiy Ahmed, prime minister of Ethiopia and 2019 Nobel Peace prize laureate (3/25).

Financial Times: How health workers replaced soldiers as our heroes
Simon Kuper, life and arts columnist at the Financial Times (3/26).

Foreign Affairs: How to Lead in a Time of Pandemic
Nicholas Burns, professor of diplomacy and international relations at the Harvard Kennedy School (3/25).

Foreign Affairs: Coronavirus Threatens Catastrophe in India
Vidya Krishnan, writer and journalist (3/25).

Foreign Policy: Yes, Blame China for the Virus
Paul D. Miller, professor of the practice of international affairs at Georgetown University and senior fellow at the Atlantic Council (3/25).

The Guardian: Mass testing is the only way to stop the virus — it’s long overdue
Anthony Costello, professor of global health and sustainable development at UCL (3/25).

The Hill: Congress is not immune to this crisis
William Timmons (R-S.C.), member of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress (3/25).

Newsweek: We Predicted The Coronavirus Pandemic But Nobody Would Listen
Jeremy Farrar, clinician and researcher specializing in infectious diseases, scientific and public health adviser to the WHO and to the U.K. and German governments, and director of Wellcome (3/24).

New York Times: Boris Johnson Is Not Cut Out for This Crisis
Jenni Russell, columnist for the Times of London and contributing opinion writer at the New York Times (3/26).

Project Syndicate: The Race Between Economics and COVID-19
Mohamed A. El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz, president elect of Queens’ College (Cambridge University), senior adviser at Gramercy, and part-time practice professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania (3/26).

Project Syndicate: A Coordinated Response to COVID-19
Lee Jong-Wha, professor of economics and director of the Asiatic Research Institute at Korea University (3/25).

Project Syndicate: Leadership in a Time of Contagion
Mark Leonard, director of the European Council on Foreign Relations (3/25).

Scientific American: How Do We Prevent the Next Outbreak?
Nicholas A. Robinson, executive governor of the International Council of Environmental Law and founder of the environmental law programs at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, and Christian Walzer, executive director of health in the Global Conservation Program of the Wildlife Conservation Society (3/25).

Washington Post: What did Trump and Congress know about the coronavirus, and when did they know it?
George T. Conway III, lawyer and adviser to the Lincoln Project, and Carrie Cordero, Robert M. Gates senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, both co-founders of Checks & Balances (3/25).

Washington Post: The U.S. should be leading the world on the virus. Instead, it’s missing in action.
Frida Ghitis, contributing columnist at the Washington Post (3/25).

Washington Post: As we fight the pandemic, it’s clear the world wasn’t ready. Here’s how to fix that.
Arancha González Laya, Spain’s minister of foreign affairs (3/25).

Washington Post: Trump must ease sanctions against Iran or face a humanitarian catastrophe
Philip H. Gordon, Mary and David Boies senior fellow in U.S. foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, and Ariane M. Tabatabai, adjunct senior research scholar at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University (3/25).

Washington Post: We must plan now for how to get back to business later
Ronald A. Klain, adviser to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and head of the Obama administration’s Ebola response (3/25).

Washington Post: It’s imperative for the U.S. and China to work together on the coronavirus pandemic
Michael McFaul, director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Hoover fellow at Stanford University, and author (3/26).

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BMJ Opinion: Healthcare workforce safety and Ebola in the context of covid-19
Megan B. Diamond, assistant director at the Harvard Global Health Institute, and Liana Woskie, research fellow at the Harvard Global Health Institute (3/25).

IntraHealth International: A Gender Lens on COVID-19
Megan O’Donnell, assistant director of the Gender Program and senior policy analyst at the Center for Global Development, and Samantha Rick, deputy director of the Frontline Health Workers Coalition (3/25).

UNDP: Statement by UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner on UN COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan
Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator (3/25).

UNHCR: UNHCR seeks US$255 million to respond to COVID-19 outbreak (3/25).

UNICEF: A global approach is the only way to fight COVID-19, the U.N. says as it launches humanitarian response plan (3/25).

World Economic Forum: Coronavirus vaccine: how soon will we have one?
Mark McCord, agenda contributor at the World Economic Forum (3/25).

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Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria: 186 Faith Leaders Write to Congress Requesting FY 2021 Global Fund Support
In a letter to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees and Subcommittees on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS), Bill Frist, chair of the Advisory Board at the 2030 Collaborative, and other faith colleagues urge Congress to maintain the U.S. contribution to the Global Fund for $1.56 billion for FY 2021 (3/25).

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Center for Global Development: How’s My Driving? What We Can Gauge from DFC’s First Board Meeting
Clemence Landers, visiting fellow with the Center for Global Development, discusses the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), its inaugural board meeting, and the approval of its first five projects totaling $881 million in direct financing and political risk insurance (3/25).

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U.S. Department of State: Release of Arbitrarily Detained Civilians and U.S. Citizens in Syria to Avert COVID-19 Spread
In a press statement, U.S. Department of State Spokesperson Morton Ortagus said, “In light of threats posed by COVID-19, the United States reiterates its calls for the Assad regime to take concrete steps to protect the fate of thousands of civilians, including U.S. citizens, being held arbitrarily in overcrowded and inhumane conditions in regime detention centers. … We demand the immediate release of all civilians arbitrarily detained — including women, children, and the elderly. Additionally, the regime must also immediately grant impartial and independent entities, including medical and health organizations, access to regime detention facilities…” (3/25).

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NIH: The National Library of Medicine expands access to coronavirus literature through PubMed Central
“The National Library of Medicine (NLM), part of the National Institutes of Health, is working on multiple fronts to aid in the COVID-19 response through new initiatives with the global publishing community and artificial intelligence researchers. NLM is expanding access to scientific papers on coronavirus for researchers, care providers, and the public, and for text-mining research. … Following on a statement issued by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and science policy leaders from almost a dozen other nations, NLM has stepped up its collaboration with publishers and scholarly societies to increase the number of coronavirus-related journal articles in [PubMed Central (PMC)], along with available data supporting them. Submitted publications will be made available in PMC as quickly as possible after publication, in formats and with needed permissions to support text mining…” (3/25).

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KFF: COVID-19 Coronavirus Tracker — Updated as of March 26, 2020 (3/26).

KFF: Preparing for COVID-19 in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Leveraging U.S. Global Health Assets (Kates/Moss/Oum, 3/20).

KFF: The U.S. Military and the Domestic Coronavirus Response: Key Questions (Michaud/Moss, 3/20).

KFF: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak Glossary (3/18).

Additional KFF COVID-19 resources, including those focused on the response and impact within the U.S., are available here.

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