Facebook commits $20m to fight COVID-19

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 Organisation 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 per cent 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.