<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;line-height:normal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;mso-fareast-font-family:times new roman">World Health Organization said yesterday it was deeply concerned about thenear-exponential escalation of the new coronavirus pandemic, with the number ofdeaths doubling in a week and confirmed cases crossing one million mark.<br />''<br />''WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urgedcitizens around the globe to stand together to fight COVID-19, as he braced forthe millionth confirmed case.<br />''<br />''The number of deaths has more than doubled in thepast week. In the next few days we will reach one million confirmed cases and50,000 deaths.<br />''<br />''Since emerging in China in December, COVID-19has spread across the globe, claiming more than 43,000 lives, and infectingmore than 860,000 people,</span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"> according to a tally of officially confirmed cases.</span></p>''<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 13.3333px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">A safe vaccine is thought to be 12 to 18 months away, while WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan stressed: There is no therapy that has been proven to be effective in the treatment of COVID-19. <o:p /></span></p><br />