King Salman to chair virtual summit of G20 leaders

King Salman of Saudi Arabia will chair an extraordinary virtual summit of G20 leaders on March 26 to advance the global coordinated response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Arab media reported that Saudi Arabia’s King and Custodian of the two Holy Mosques Shah Salman (King Salman)  will chair an extraordinary virtual summit of G20 leaders on March 26 to advance the global coordinated response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The leaders of the G20 group, the heads of state of Jordan, Spain, Singapore and Switzerland will also participate in the summit.

In its capacity as sitting president of the Gulf Cooperation Council states, the UAE will participate as well.

G20 finance ministers and central bankers agreed during a separate video conference this week to develop an “action plan” to respond to the outbreak, which the International Monetary Fund expects will trigger a global recession.

The Kingdom, which holds the G20 presidency this year, called last week for the leaders to speak by video-conference.

On the other hand WHO  warned the United States, the country with the most cases after China and Italy, risked becoming the next epicentre of the outbreak as the country’s President Donald Trump, insisted the country could be back to work in three weeks.

More than 18,600 people have died from COVID-19 since it first emerged in China late last year.

Nearly 108,000 of the 418,000 people diagnosed with the disease have recovered.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has declared a state of national emergency as the country prepared to go into a month-long lockdown.