Saudi Health Minister Tawfiq Al-Rabiah (C) attends the G20 health ministers virtual meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on April 19, 2020. Health ministers of the Group 20 (G20) reviewed on Sunday the importance of utilizing digital solutions in current and future pandemics. During a virtual meeting, the officials discussed further coordinate efforts in combating COVID-19 and the role of digital solutions, a statement by the G20 Saudi Presidency highlighted. (G20 Saudi Arabia/Handout via Xinhua)

The group of 20 rich and emerging economies on Sunday launched an international initiative to accelerate access to health tools needed to fight the novel coronavirus.

The finance minister of Saudi Arabia, the current G20 chair, said the group is still working to bridge an estimated $8 billion funding gap to combat the pandemic.

"The G20 will continue reinforcing global cooperation on all fronts, and most importantly, on closing the immediate health financing gap," the minister, Mohammed al-Jadaan, said in a statement launching the "Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator" initiative.

He added that "the international community is still facing extraordinary uncertainty about the depth and duration of this health crisis."

G20 nations pledged Friday to cushion the economic blow of the coronavirus pandemic to global tourism.

COVID-19 lockdowns have pounded international tourism, which is estimated to see a 45 percent decline in 2020, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

G20 tourism ministers pledged to ensure coordination as their countries ease lockdowns and travel restrictions, and to support the struggling industry's recovery.

The tourism minister of Saudi Arabia voiced hope that the pandemic's impact would be "short-term." "The sites are still there, hotels are still there, restaurants are still there, waiting for visitors to come back," Ahmed al-Khatib told AFP.

Saudi Arabia has splurged more than $133 million to quarantine thousands of overseas travelers and those exposed to the virus in otherwise empty hotels around the kingdom, Khatib said.

Reuters / AFP