Dr Mike Ryan, head of the Emergency Program of the World Health Organization, said on Friday that the elimination of the new coronavirus is unlikely.

In an online briefing from Geneva, he said, "In the current situation it is unlikely we can eradicate this virus."

"By extinguishing clusters of infection, the world could potentially avoid the worst of having second peaks and having to move backwards in terms of lockdown," he added.

The John Hopkins University data suggests, globally, the total number of coronavirus cases stand at 1,24,61,962, meanwhile, the death toll stands at 5,59,481 and there are 68,35,987 recovered patients, so far.

Amidst the surge in COVID-19 cases globally, India has now crossed a grim milestone of crossing the 8 lakh mark, standing to be the third-worst affected country after Brazil and the United States. Reportedly, Brazil has recorded over 1.7 million coronavirus cases. With reporting as many as 65,000 cases in a single day, the US has reported over 3.24 million cases since the outbreak of COVID-19.

The world has bee noticing a global race to develop and distribute COVID-19 vaccine at the earliest, however, experts believe, people must not expect a vaccine before 2021. The process is likely to take another six to eight months.

Edited by: Pranav Jalan