A total of 98,023 COVID-19 cases have been reported globally so far, including 3,380 deaths, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said here on Friday, noting "we are now on the verge of reaching 100,000 confirmed cases."

As COVID-19 cases increase, the WHO continues to recommend that all countries make containment their highest priority, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a daily briefing.

"We continue to call on countries to find, test, isolate and care for every case, and to trace every contact," Tedros said.

He called for slowing down the epidemic which saves lives and buys time for preparedness and for research and development, saying "every day we can slow down the epidemic is another day hospitals can prepare themselves for cases."