Initial Coronavirus Response May Cost $676 Million, WHO Says

(Bloomberg) -- Key public health measures to respond to the coronavirus outbreak will cost an estimated $675.7 million through April, the World Health Organization said in a draft plan.

Scaling up country preparedness and response operations will account for more than $640 million of the total needed from Feb. 1 to April 30, according to a Feb. 3 draft of the WHO’s strategic preparedness and response plan. The 28-page document outlines measures the international community “stands ready to provide to support all countries to prepare for and respond to” the novel pneumonia-causing virus, dubbed 2019‑nCoV.

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