G7 commits to 'whatever is necessary' to fight COVID-19

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The leaders of Group of Seven nations vowed Monday to take all means necessary to combat the global spread of the new coronavirus, pledging to coordinate efforts to thwart the pandemic, which they called their "foremost priority."

"The COVID-19 pandemic is a human tragedy and a global health crisis, which also poses major risks for the world economy," the leaders of the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the UK said in a joint statement issued shortly after they held a video teleconference.

"We are committed to doing whatever is necessary to ensure a strong global response through closer cooperation and enhanced coordination of our efforts. While current challenges may require national emergency measures, we remain committed to the stability of the global economy," they added.

Among the steps the leaders vowed are "appropriate border management measures," information sharing in "real-time," coordinated research efforts and the pooling of epidemiologic and other data to better understand and fight the virus.

Addressing reports at the White House, Larry Kudlow, U.S. President Donald Trump's top economic adviser, said the level of cooperation among the leaders during their virtual meeting was "fantastic."

"Everybody, basically – and I've seen them around the table a couple times not so fantastic – today, basically, they all want to do whatever it takes on the health side of solving the virus side and on the economic side, we just heard that from one president and prime minister after another," he said.

He further said the world economy is heading into a challenging period, but stopped short of saying a recession is coming.

“We are going to be challenged, no question about it. We have a big challenge. I’ve been saying that and I’ll continue to say it. I’m not going to label it one thing or another,” said Kudlow, maintaining the fundamentals of the U.S. economy remain "strong."

Worldwide, the World Health Organization has registered about 165,000 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus with the global death total just shy of 6,500.