The World Health Organization(WHO) has urged the world to donate 675 million U.S. dollars or some 800 billion won for its plan to combat the novel coronavirus for the next three months. 

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the call on Wednesday at a news conference in Geneva, saying that his organization is launching a strategic preparedness and response plan.

Ghebreyesus said that the WHO's message to the international community is "invest today or pay more later," adding that 675 million dollars is a lot of money but it's "much less than the bill the world will have to pay if they do not invest in preparedness now."

The WHO chief said that about 60 million dollars of that money would be for the organization’s own operations, while the remainder would go to the countries that are "especially at risk" from the deadly virus. 

He added that the WHO released nine million dollars from its emergency financial reserves to help combat the disease, sending masks and other supplies to 24 countries.