File picture shows World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks at a daily briefing in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 9, 2020.Photo:Xinhua

The WHO chief began his first day in quarantine Monday after coming in contact with someone with COVID-19, but does not need to be tested for now, the organization said.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced late Sunday on Twitter that he would be self-quarantining for the next two weeks, after someone he had been in contact with tested positive for the deadly virus.

"I am well and without symptoms but will self-quarantine in the coming days, in line with WHO protocols," he told a virtual press briefing, speaking from his home. 

"At this time, it is critically important that we all comply with health guidance," he said. "This is how we will break chains of transmission, suppress the virus, and protect health systems."

Speaking from Tedros's usual perch in the WHO headquarters in Geneva, emergencies director Michael Ryan told reporters there was no requirement for the UN agency's leader to get tested unless he started feeling sick.

"His testing will depend on the arrival of symptoms or otherwise and he may be tested in the days to come," he said, stressing that the WHO's "current protocol doesn't require that he be tested."

"He is at home, in quarantine and as you can see very well, working away and continuing to do his job in supporting the world."

The agency, he said, has "in place strong and robust risk management mechanisms in order to reduce transmission within the building and to manage that transmission should it occur."

AFP