An official from the World Health Organization(WHO) said on Monday that roughly one in ten people worldwide may have been infected by COVID-19.

Michael Ryan, the executive director of the WHO's health emergencies program reportedly presented the figure, calling it a best estimate.

Speaking to a special session of the WHO's executive board on COVID-19, Ryan said the figures vary from urban to rural, and among different groups, but that ultimately it means the vast majority of the world remains at risk.

The estimate would amount to more than 760 million people contracting the virus based on the current world population of about seven-point-six billion. 

The figure far exceeds the number of confirmed cases as tallied by Johns Hopkins University, now at more than 35 million worldwide.