Rihanna donates USD 5 million to coronavirus relief efforts

Singer Rihanna's non-profit organisation, the Clara Lionel Foundation, has donated USD 5 million to coronavirus response efforts.

The charity will be supporting Direct Relief, Partners In Health, Feeding America, the International Rescue Committee and World Health Organization's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund as they continue to fight the pandemic in the US, the Caribbean and Africa.

"Never has it been more important or urgent to protect and prepare marginalised and underserved communities -- those who will be hit hardest by this pandemic," said Justine Lucas, Executive Director of the Clara Lionel Foundation, in a statement to Billboard.

The funds will help to provide communities with critical protective gear, medical supplies, equipment and access to food.

Rihanna is the latest celebrity to donate for coronavirus relief efforts. Earlier this week, Hollywood couple Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively had donated USD 1 million to food banks.

Last week, celebrated fashion designer Donatella Versace and her daughter Allegra Versace Beck, had donated 200,000 euros to a hospital in Milan, Italy, to help battle the coronavirus.

Fashion industry giant Giorgio Armani has also donated USD 1.9 million to the Luigi Sacco and San Raffaele hospitals and the Istituto dei Tumori in Milan, as well as the Istituto Lazzaro Spallanzani in Rome.

The COVID-19, which first originated in China's Wuhan city, has claimed over 13,000 lives.