Facebook commits $20 mn to fight COVID-19

San Francisco, March 14 (IANS) As the world grapples with the novel coronavirus, Facebook has committed $20 million in donations to fight the disease.

The social networking giant worked with the United Nations Foundation and the World Health Organization to start a COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, where anyone can go to make a donation.

“Facebook is matching up to $10 million in donations, and 100% of funds will directly support the work to prevent, detect and respond to the outbreak around the world,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a post on the social media platform on Friday.

“We’ll also match $10 million for the CDC Foundation, which will launch a fundraiser in the next few weeks focused on combating the outbreak here in the US,” he added.

Facebook said on Friday that it is committing to match $20 million in donations, a fraction of its quarterly profit, to support global relief efforts for COVID-19 coronavirus.

Mark Zuckerberg, the social juggernaut’s chief executive, said Facebook was committing $10 million for the United Nations Foundation (UNF) and World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund and an additional $10 million for the CDC Foundation, which will launch its Facebook Fundraiser in the coming weeks.

According to a report in TechCrunch, Chinese ride-hailing giant DiDi Chuxing on Friday announced a $10 million special relief fund for drivers and couriers in its international markets.

Among other tech giants, Microsoft and Amazon this week committed $1 million each to COVID-19 Response Fund.

To support COVID-19 relief efforts, Google.org and Google employees have donated more than $1 million.