On 31 December 2019, WHO was informed of a cluster of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. The coronavirus disease (Covid-19) was identified as the causative virus by Chinese authorities on 7 January. As part of WHO’s response to the outbreak, the R&D blueprint has been activated to accelerate diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics for this novel coronavirus. The WHO recently advised countries on how to prevent the spread of disease and care for those who are sick. The apex health agency also said that it is strengthening lab capacity all over the world along with training thousands of health workers.