Geneva, Jul 24 (IANS): Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), said that political leadership and community engagement are the two vital pillars of the response to COVID-19.

Tedros told a virtual press conference on Thursday that although all countries have been affected, intense transmission has been seen in a relatively small group of nations, Xinhua news agency.

"Almost 10 million cases, or two-thirds of all cases globally, are from 10 countries, and almost half of all cases reported so far are from just three countries," he said.

According to the latest figure released by the WHO, the three countries that are hit the hardest by the COVID-19 are the US, Brazil and India.

"We're asking everyone to treat the decisions about where they go, what they do and who they meet with as life-and-death decisions -- because they are," the WHO chief said.

"It may not be your life, but your choices could be the difference between life and death for someone you love, or for a complete stranger."

"In recent years we've seen young people leading grassroots movements for climate change and racial equality," he said, adding that "now we need young people to start a global movement for health -- for a world in which health is a human right, not a privilege".

As of Friday morning, the total number of global COVID-19 cases stood at 15,439,456, while the fatalities rose to 631,926.