Nations are to connect online next month for a second coronavirus summit, according to a joint statement released by the White House on Monday.
At the top of the agenda for May 12 is strengthening “collective efforts to end the acute phase of the Covid-19 pandemic and prepare for future health threats”, the statement by the US, chairs of the G7, G20, African Union and Caribbean Communities said.
The last summit was co-ordinated by the US in September 2021, before more-transmissible variants of the virus swept the world.
“The emergence and spread of new variants, like Omicron, have reinforced the need for a strategy aimed at controlling Covid-19 worldwide,” the statement said.
Now, the second summit comes as China is battling its largest coronavirus surge in the entire pandemic, placing a strict weeks-long lockdown on Shanghai and other cities.
The US has wound down its Covid prevention funding - against the wishes of President Joe Biden.
The Senate agreed a bill that omitted financing its global aid response to the pandemic.
However, case numbers are rising in some parts of the country after a sustained lull. Philadelphia on Monday reinstated an indoor mask mandate.
The joint statement said the summit will discuss central challenges in the pandemic.
These include: increasing vaccinations, sending out tests and treatments, prioritising high-risk groups, “expanding and protecting the health workforce”, building out research development and medical supply chains, and supporting health systems against future threats and pandemics.
“Together, we can mitigate the impact of Covid-19,” the statement said.
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Nearly empty roads amid a phased lockdown due to Covid-19 in Shanghai, China. The country's largest city reported more than 13,000 daily Covid cases for the first time, as a sweeping lockdown of its 25 million residents and mass testing uncovered extensive spread of the highly infectious Omicron variant. Bloomberg -
Medical workers gather near a banner that reads 'Unite as one, resolutely win the battle against epidemic' during a departure ceremony before leaving for Shanghai, in Jinan, east China's Shandong Province. AP -
China has sent more than 10,000 health workers from across the country to Shanghai, including 2,000 military medical staff, as it struggles to tackle the rapidly spreading Covid-19 outbreak. AFP -
Workers in protective suits direct residents lining up for Covid testing. Reuters -
Medical workers and volunteers in a compound where residents are being tested for Covid-19. AFP -
Authorities are building the world’s largest makeshift isolation centre to help contain the outbreak in Shanghai. AFP -
A delivery man arranges his orders during lockdown in the Jingan district of western Shanghai. AP -
A worker in protective gear chats with residents outside shuttered shops in the Jingan district of western Shanghai. AP -
The number of cases continues to rise in Shanghai and Jilin, a north-eastern province. AP -
Residents wait to submit samples for tests at a community centre in the Pudong New Area of Shanghai. AP -
A person walks a dog. Reuters -
Policemen wearing protective gear on a street during patrols. AFP -
Workers remove their protective gear at the entrance of a neighbourhood. AFP -
Food shortages and shuttered manufacturing plants have hit residents hard. AFP -
Workers unload groceries from a truck before distributing them to residents. AP -
A man helps a woman to consume a packet of traditional Chinese medicine, as she sits by the side of a road outside a residential compound. Reuters -
Empty highways at night in Shanghai. Bloomberg
