MOSCOW, May 14. /TASS/. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is working together with Kedrion, an Italian company, and with the FSI investment fund on launching a project on treating COVID-19, a disease caused by the novel coronavirus, using drugs based on human blood plasma, the fund’s press release informs.

"The RDIF is actively cooperating with Italian companies in the sphere of medical technology to find new means of combating the coronavirus. Together with one of the global leaders in the production of blood plasma-based products, the Kedrion company, and the FSI investment fund, we are working on launching a project in Russia on treating the coronavirus with drugs based on human blood plasma," head of the fund Kirill Dmitriev said.

Besides, the RDIF is cooperating with Italy in other areas in order to fight the coronavirus. Russian military medics sent to Italy used the EMG mobile test systems produced with the support of the fund.

The press service also noted that Dmitriev has been honored with the Star of Italy medal, a state award for significant contribution to the development of bilateral investment cooperation. The official award ceremony will take place in the Italian Embassy in Moscow when the coronavirus-related restrictions are lifted.

In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.

On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 4,442,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 298,000 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 1,668,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.

To date, a total of 252,245 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 53,530 patients having recovered from the virus. Russia’s latest data indicates 2,305 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.