WHO concerned at 'rapid escalation' of pandemic as deaths double in a week

The World Health Organization said Wednesday it was concerned about the recent "rapid escalation" and global spread of the new coronavirus pandemic.

"The number of deaths has more than doubled in the past week... in the next few days we will reach one million confirmed cases and 50,000 deaths," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual news conference.