Participants from more than 240 cities around the world, including mayors, local leaders, and members of response teams, joined Bloomberg Philanthropies' fifth virtual COVID-19 Local Response Initiative convening on April 16, where Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg addressed the mayors on the challenges associated with the pandemic. Joined by moderator Jorrit de Jong, Faculty Director of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative; Dr. Howard Koh, Professor of the Practice of Public Health Leadership at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Kennedy School; Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, MD, the Vice Dean for Public Health Practice and Community Engagement for the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University and director of the Bloomberg American Health Initiative; and Dr. Tom Frieden, President and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives and former Director of the Center for Disease Control, Mr. Gates and Mr. Bloomberg highlighted the leading role mayors have in responding to the crisis.