Saudi pledges $500m as world reels from coronavirus crisis

Dubai - As virus deaths mounted - the economic devastation from the restrictions is becoming even more shocking.

Saudi Arabia, the current G20 chair, said it has pledged $500 million to support global efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic and urged other countries and organisations to help bridge a $8 billion financing gap.

Riyadh said it would allocate $150 million to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovation, $150 million to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations, and $200 million to other health organisations and programmes.

In a statement, it called on all countries, non-governmental organisations, philanthropies and the private sector to help close a financing gap estimated at over $8 billion to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

China, meanwhile, acknowledged that the coronavirus death toll in the one-time epicentre city of Wuhan was nearly 50 per cent higher than reported, underscoring just how seriously the official numbers of infections and deaths around the world may be understating the dimensions of the disaster.

Such figures can have a huge influence on governments' actions, as medical staff struggle to figure out how to cope with surges of sick people and officials make crucial decisions about where to devote resources and how to begin easing lockdowns to resuscitate their economy.

As virus deaths mounted - the economic devastation from the restrictions is becoming even more shocking.

China's economy shrank 6.8 per cent in the quarter ending in March compared with the same period a year ago, its worst contraction since market-style economic reforms began in 1979. And in Europe, car sales tanked 55 per cent last month. - Reuters, AP

• Saudi Arabia