(VOVWORLD) - Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne have agreed to share information and experience in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, such as research and production of vaccines and the purchase of medical materials and equipment.

(VOVWORLD) - Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has decided to declare a nationwide state of emergency in an attempt to prevent the further spread of the new coronavirus.

(VOVWORLD)- NATO defence ministers have reviewed the alliance's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and agreed upon the next steps to take, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. Stoltenberg held a virtual news conference in Brussels on Thursday after an online meeting of alliance defence ministers.

(VOVWORLD) - Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister To Anh Dung on Thursday held a phone talk with UK Foreign Office Minister Nigel Adams discussing bilateral cooperation in combating Covid-19 and measures to boost bilateral ties.

(VOVWORLD) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group on Wednesday welcomed the Group of 20 (G20)'s decision to provide temporary debt relief for the world's poorest countries amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

(VOVWORLD) - The International Monetary Fund has approved the creation of a short-term liquidity facility to assist countries in combating the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, said IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.

(VOVWORLD) - 12 localities deemed to have a high risk of COVID-19 transmission, including Hanoi, Quang Ninh province, and Ho Chi Minh City, will continue to implement social distancing measures for another one or two weeks, or even longer if infections continue to be detected.

(VOVWORLD) - Vietnamese scientists have developed a new robot that can clean and disinfect hospital rooms to support medical staff in the battle against the novel coronavirus.

(VOVWORLD) - Worldometers.info reports that as of late Thursday there were 2,085,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, of whom 134,700 have died and 515,500 have recovered.

(VOVWORLD) - WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says he regrets US President Donald Trump’s decision to withhold funding the WHO.