The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) says South Korea is "making progress" in fighting COVID-19.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Sunday made the remarks in a Twitter post, saying that the WHO appreciates Seoul's interventions to contain the coronavirus and save lives.

The WHO chief also said that he had a very productive call with Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and expressed gratitude for the minister's pledge of three million U.S. dollars to the global response to the virus outbreak. 

In another post, he said that the government and people of Italy are taking bold and courageous steps aimed at slowing the spread of the virus. He was referring to the European nation's unprecedented measure to shut down its northern region of Lombardy and 14 neighboring provinces.