The United Nations (UN) will set up a fund to counter the spread of coronavirus and support the treatment of patients around the world.

The purpose of the fund is to help developing countries with weak health systems cope with the crisis and to address the long-term effects of the pandemic. The UN is expected to formally announce this week.

Norway, which proposed the creation of the fund, did not commit how much money it would invest in the initiative.

“We want to ensure that the measures are as unified as possible and implemented as early as possible so that we can respond to the calls of the countries, especially the poorest countries”, said the Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Marie Eriksen Soreide.

The Coronavirus has already affected nearly 360,000 people worldwide, and over 15,000 have died, with deaths in Italy already surpassing those in China.

Norway is also seriously affected by the spread of the pandemic. The country has 2,547 cases (470 cases per 1 million population) with 10 deaths.

The African countries of Angola, Eritrea, and Uganda have confirmed their first cases, while Mauritius registers the first death from the disease, while the virus continues to spread across the continent despite efforts by local governments to control it.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged rich countries on Thursday (March 19th) not only to think about their citizens but also to help less prepared countries deal with the crisis.