WHO chief to self-isolate after COVID-19 exposure

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said late Sunday on Twitter that he will self-isolate over the coming days after being exposed to the coronavirus.

"I have been identified as a contact of someone who has tested positive for #COVID19. I am well and without symptoms but will self-quarantine over the coming days, in line with @WHO protocols, and work from home," he tweeted.

Tedros has been at the forefront of the United Nations health agency's efforts to battle the pandemic which has claimed nearly 1.2 million lives and infected over 46 million people across the globe. 

Tedros stressed on Twitter that "it is critically important that we all comply with health guidance." 

"This is how we will break chains of #COVID19 transmission, suppress the virus, and protect health systems." The 55-year-old former Ethiopian minister of health and foreign affairs has for months reiterated that each person has a role to play in halting the spread of the virus.

(With input from AFP)