The COVID-19 pandemic remains a "public health emergency of international concern", according to the World Health Oranization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom.

Tedros made the remarks at a briefing on Friday in Geneva, Switzerland.

"We encourage countries to follow WHO's advice, which we are constantly reviewing and updating as we learn more about the virus, and as we learn more from countries about best practices for responding to it," he added.

The Director-General's remarks come as the number of COVID-19 infections globally have hit 3.2 million globally, with the death toll surpassing 233,000 and more than one million patients recovered, according to the latest statistics released by Johns Hopkins University.

Tedros also announced that the European Union will hold a conference next week to seek funds for research in quest of a COVID-19 vaccine.

"This coming Monday, the EU Commission will host a pledging conference to generate funds for investment in vaccine research," he said.