Abu Dhabi crown prince, Bill Gates discuss coronavirus cooperation

ABU DHABI - The crown prince of the oil-rich emirate of Abu Dhabi tweeted on Friday that he had discussed cooperation in fighting the new coronavirus with US billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates.

Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates federation, which has reported at least 27 coronavirus cases.

"My good friend @BillGates and I discussed over a call the importance of enhancing cooperation between multilateral institutions and private entities in the global fight against all diseases and COVID19 in particular," Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the de-facto ruler of the UAE, tweeted. "We have been and will remain strong partners in this effort."

A UAE government official said last week that the Gulf state, a major air transit centre, was ready for "worst case scenarios" and has the facilities to quarantine patients and screen new arrivals.

The UAE, which has closed schools and educational institutions for four weeks, said students and education workers would have to spend 14 days in home isolation on returning to the country.