"For all the economic, military and technological might of nations, we have been humbled by this very small microbe. If this virus is teaching us anything, it's humility," Tedros said at the World Health Assembly.

The WHO chief also called for treating the coronavirus with due respect and attention, warning that it moved "like bushfire."

"This virus is efficient, fast and fatal. It can operate in the dark, spread silently if we are not paying attention, then [it] suddenly explodes, if we are not ready, and moves like a bushfire. We have seen the same pattern repeated in cities and countries all over the world. We must treat this virus with the respect and attention it deserves," Tedros said.

The "dangerous enemy" has already claimed over 300,000 lives globally, but numbers fail to tell the story of the pandemic, the health effects of which extend far beyond the coronavirus-related sicknesses and deaths, Tedros added.

The pandemic threatens to "unwind decades of progress against maternal and child mortality, HIV, malaria, tuberculosis" and many other problems, the WHO director-general said, warning against easing restrictions too early.

"Some are now assessing how to ease the restrictions that have exacted such a heavy social and economic toll. WHO fully and supports the desire of countries to get back on their feet and back to work ... Countries that move too fast, without putting in place the public health architecture to detect and suppress transmission run a real risk of handicapping their own recovery," Tedros said.

The WHO wishes to see "the fastest global recovery," he added, calling on the global community to do everything possible to ensure that the 2020 pandemic does not happen again.