Madonna Partners With Bill Gates, Donates $1 Million to COVID-19 Efforts

From RollingStone.com:

Madonna took to Instagram to announce her partnership with Bill Gates, donating $1 million to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundations’ Therapeutics Accelerator program, which is looking to find a drug to cure or treat COVID-19.

The singer, who recently canceled her final Madame X shows due to the pandemic, began by sharing her own experience with the crisis.

I must admit, it took me time to accept and process and modify my own lifestyle so I can protect the lives of my family, myself and the rest of the human race. I cannot express enough the importance of people taking this virus seriously.

Madonna’s contribution will go toward the COVID-19 Response Fund operated by Gates Philanthropy Partners.
Other partners in the initiative include Wellcome, Mastercard, U.K. Government and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

Madonna explained:

I have enormous respect for Bill Gates and the work he has done all his life. He warned us of a global pandemic in 2015, and I wish to God we had listened.

Madonna also took the time to thank the healthcare workers consistently risking their lives during the crisis and exposing themselves to the virus. “I have enormous gratitude for you,” she said.

She concluded her statement with advice:

I know many of you have heard this one trillion billion times. But I’m going to say it again: stay safe. Stay home. Don’t panic. Fear will get us nowhere. I have faith in the human race that we are gonna pull through.