The Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Ghebreyesus, has said one million cases of coronavirus will be recorded worldwide in few days.

As at Wednesday, over 800,000 people had been infected, with over 40,000 deaths so far recorded.

Speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday, Ghebreyesus expressed concerns about the “rapid escalation and global spread” of coronavirus.

He said: “As we enter the 4th month since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, I am deeply concerned about the rapid escalation and global spread of infection.

“Over the past 5 weeks, we have witnessed a near exponential growth in the number of new COVID-19 cases, reaching almost every country, territory and area.

“The number of deaths has more than doubled in the past week. In the next few days, we will reach one million confirmed COVID-19 cases, and 50,000 deaths.”