Geneva, Mar 28 (IANS): 78 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed among the United Nations (UN) staff worldwide as of now, a UN official said.

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, gave the figure during a virtual press briefing here on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Due to the unprecedented challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic to the work of the United Nations, the bi-weekly UN briefings in Geneva have been conducted virtually using the video-conference systems.

During the past weeks, the UN headquarters in Geneva, the International Labor Organization as well as the World Trade Organization have all reported confirmed COVID-19 cases among their staff members.

With most UN staff teleworking now, the UN headquarters in Geneva has announced that it is important to continue to reduce the number of people accessing their offices in order to contribute to efforts to stem the propagation of the outbreak.