G7 summit to be held via videoconference due to COVID-19 outbreak

The White House said on Thursday that the Group of Seven (G7) Summit, originally scheduled to take place at Camp David in June, will be canceled due to the coronavirus, and leaders will have a videoconference instead, local media reported.

National Economic Council Director and U.S. Sherpa for the 2020 G7 Larry Kudlow has informed his counterparts that the G7 Summit the United States was set to host in June at Camp David will now be held by video-teleconference, The Hill reported, citing White House spokesman Judd Deere.

The move was to enable each country to focus all of its resources on responding to the health and economic challenges of COVID-19, Deere said.

G7 leaders held a videoconference earlier this week and pledged to "use all policy tools" to forcefully address the economic impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

All G7 members have been coping with the spread of COVID-19. Italy, the hardest-hit member, reported 427 new coronavirus deaths on Thursday, raising the death toll to 3,405.

According to the latest update by Johns Hopkins University, there are currently more than 13,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States, with 176 deaths.