Lady Gaga has raised $35 million (£28.3m) in just seven days to help fight the coronavirus pandemic.

The singer has been working with a number of businesses and philanthropists to get the money together, as well as organising a star-studded concert.

The donation will now be given to the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, where it will be used to fund the global need for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), testing kits, and to help improve lab capacity for tests.

Gaga, real name Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, made the announcement during a WHO media briefing on Monday (6 April).

Speaking during the hearing, the 34-year-old said: “We are all so very grateful to all of the healthcare professionals across the country and around the world who are on the frontline during Covid-19.

“This global pandemic is a catastrophe. I am so grateful to them and I’m also praying for those who are sick. It’s been a pleasure to partner with Global Citizen and we have been working together behind the scenes to raise money for the World Health Organisation.

“I would also like to send my prayers to people who are losing their jobs and are having a hard time feeding themselves and their children.

“We are raising money for the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, and seven days ago we held a conference call with more than 68 corporate leaders from some of the world’s biggest and most generous companies, and I asked them to join my corporate kindness list.

“And I’d like to reiterate our deep gratitude to the medical community. My heart is very achy and warm for those doctors and nurses who are sleeping in cars to make sure they don’t infect their families.

“What you are doing is putting yourselves in harm’s way to help the world and we all salute you. You are a triumph, truly.”

Gaga is also heading up a special online music festival called ‘One World Together at Home’, which will be streamed in 18 April and will included a whole list of stars, including Billie Eilish, Lizzo, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, and Chris Martin.

It will not be a fundraiser but a way of sharing a positive message during this crisis.

The singer added: “We celebrate and we highlight the singular, kind global community that is arising right now.

“We want to highlight the gravity of this historical, unprecedented, cultural movement. And, we want to celebrate and encourage the power of the human.

“Put your wallet away, put anything away that you need to, and sit back and enjoy the show that you all very much deserve.”