World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the coronavirus pandemic is "accelerating" and more than 150,000 cases were reported on the 19th of June.

In a media briefing, Ghebreyesus said that nearly half of the newly reported cases were from the Americas, with a significant increase from South Asia and the Middle East.

"We are in a new and dangerous phase," he explained.

"Many people are understandably fed up with being at home (and) countries are understandably eager to open up their societies."

He warned that the virus is still "spreading fast" and that measures such as social distancing, mask-wearing and hand washing are still critical.

"We have a shared duty to everything we can to prevent, detect and respond to the transmission of COVID-19 detected among refugees in hospitals."

On the 22nd of June, the WHO reported that there have been more than 183,000 new cases in the last 24 hours around the world.

Brazil had a shocking 54,771 new set of cases and the US followed behind with 36,617 new cases.

In Australia, Victoria is bracing for a spike in COVID-19 cases meaning that a second wave of the virus is a "distinct possibility".

Victoria confirmed a total of 160 new cases over the past week.