Mark Zuckerberg Raises Fund With Bill Gates For Handling COVID-19

Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilia Chan (Facebook @MarkZuckerberg)

JAKARTA - Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan are helping to deal with the corona virus pandemic. Through their charity foundation, The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, they donated US $ 25 million or around Rp.408 billion for the handling of COVID-19.

The funds will be channeled with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and are earmarked to explore possible treatments for COVID-19 patients and find an antidote for the virus. The contribution from Zuckerberg and his wife came after the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator in early March.

"I'm really proud to share that the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative will join forces with Gates and others to put together what they call a therapeutic accelerator to fight the coronavirus," Chan told CBS News.

Chan explained that the purpose and goal of the funds given to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation is to develop affordable care for COVID-19 patients that can be distributed on a large scale.

The accelerator will evaluate new and reused drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 patients, and hopes that this research can also be used to fight other viral pathogens in the long term. The COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator will also work closely with the World Health Organization (WHO) on the project.

"Part of the idea is that drugs that are often used to fight various diseases are basically you can take all the drugs that are screened for safe and test them to see if they also have a positive impact either to prevent coronavirus, or reduce symptoms," continued Zuckerberg.

The announcement is one of several efforts the Silicon Valley tech giant is making in an effort to help combat the spread of COVID-19, which has killed nearly 25,000 people worldwide and infected more than half a million people.

It is known, Facebook is also not immune from the impact of the pandemic. Due to COVID-19 precautions, as many as 45,000 of its employees have been initiated to work from home. According to Zuckerberg, even those who are unable to fulfill their work from home will still be paid in full for an undetermined period.

Previously, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has provided US $ 3.7 million to the Seattle area public health agency, several local foundations, homeless service providers and more in aid of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The funds are part of a previously announced $ 5 million commitment for the Seattle area. The Foundation also provided US $ 1 million for Seattle & King County Public Health.

Of course the goal is again to help institutions disseminate timely and accurate information in order to avoid hoaxes about COVID-19. Not only that, this philanthropic couple also set up temporary housing or services for patients who are not severe and people who experience homelessness.

For information, other technology giants such as Amazon and Microsoft also contributed to a US $ 2.5 million grant to fund organizations working with communities affected by the COVID-19 outbreak in the Seattle area.

Facebook has also launched a $ 100 million program to help small businesses affected by the pandemic. Likewise with Apple, which has also donated 10 million face masks for relief efforts in the US.