Ralph Lauren has pledged $10 million (£8.2m) to support the global response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The firm said it would also be making a shift in its production, with the Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation to start manufacturing 250,000 masks and 25,000 isolation gowns in the US.

Speaking about the donation, Ralph Lauren, executive chairman of the fashion brand, said he wanted his company to play its part.

In a statement, the 80-year-old said: “At the heart of our company, there has always been a spirit of togetherness that inspires our creativity, our confidence and most importantly our support for one another. In the past weeks and months, that spirit has never wavered.”

It comes as the US overtakes China for the most cases of Covid-19 in the world, with 85,500 having tested positive for the deadly disease.

According to figures put together by Johns Hopkins University, US, the number of cases in China now stands at 81,782 cases, while in Italy there have been 80,589 (correct at the time of writing).

Responding to the figures, President Donald Trump cast doubt on their authenticity, claiming: “You don’t know what the numbers are in China.”

However, he appeared to go back on that statement in a tweet later on where he praised the Chinese government for its work at getting the outbreak under control.

He said: “Just finished a very good conversation with President Xi of China. Discussed in great detail the CoronaVirus that is ravaging large parts of our Planet. China has been through much and has developed a strong understanding of the Virus.

“We are working closely together. Much respect!”

Mr Trump has also been criticised in recent days for promising that the country would ‘be back’ to work by Easter Sunday (12 April) – a statement that has been widely ridiculed – despite 3.3m workers having been sacked because of the pandemic.

Clarifying his comments at a press conference, the property tycoon said: “They [the American people] have to go back to work, our country has to go back, our country is based on that and I think it’s going to happen pretty quickly.

“We may take sections of our country, we may take large sections of our country that aren’t so seriously affected and we may do it that way.”

He added: “A lot of people misinterpret when I say ‘go back’ – they’re going to be practising as much as you can social distancing, and washing your hands and not shaking hands and all of the things we talked about.”

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