The Fondation de Luxembourg announced the launch of the Covid-19 Foundation, supporting vetted projects in Luxembourg and abroad which come under three categories:

• Projects aimed at the health sector, for example in terms of protective equipment for healthcare personnel, patient assistance, the purchase of medical equipment or the provision of additional human resources;
• research projects, with the aim of developing suitable tests, finding medicines to treat patients or finding a vaccine against the disease. This also includes research such as modelling the epidemic (anticipating the spread of the virus according to geographical areas) or prevention against the disease;
• social projects aimed at vulnerable people affected by the crisis, such as the homeless, refugees, populations affected by the conflicts in Yemen and Syria, as well as any other person living in difficult or precarious conditions.

The full list of selected projects can be found here. The foundation also accepts proposals for new projects.

The announcement comes as people from all walks of life in Luxembourg are developing innovative solutions, including 3D printed face visors, masks, hand sanitiser and 3D printed ventilators.

The initiatives come at a time when businesses are scrambling to adapt their activities to social distancing measures. By 1 April, the Luxembourg government had received 16,000 applications for short-time work schemes, ensuring people unable to work receive 80% of their wages.

With so many people unable to work, now could be a good time to invest in a personal digital project, director of the federation of companies Nicolas Henckes pointed out in a Monday commentary for Delano.lu. He added that investment subsidy programmes had not been stopped.