"The potential of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are being taken seriously by the medical and research community," World Health Organization’s (WHO) Health Emergencies Program chief Michael Ryan said on Monday, adding that "there is no empirical evidence from randomized control trials that hydroxychloroquine works against COVID-19."

Meanwhile, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized the importance of precautions against the novel coronavirus, which has brought the entire world to a standstill.

"While COVID-19 accelerates very fast, it decelerates more slowly, so control measures must be lifted slowly," he added.

"Decisions on lifting or imposing restrictions must be based first and foremost on protecting human health and guided by what is known about the virus," he said.

During the press conference, WHO officials also said that the organization would be publishing updated strategic advice on Tuesday with six criteria for countries considering lifting control measures to follow.

First appearing in China’s Wuhan, the novel coronavirus has infected over 1,870,000 people around the globe and killed over 116,000.