South Korean army soldiers wearing protective suits spray disinfectant in Daegu, South Korea, March 2, 2020. (Photo by Lee Sang-ho/Xinhua)

As the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide exceeded 100,000 on Saturday, the world must recognize that the fight against the epidemic has come to a critical juncture.

As the clock continues to tick, countries around the world must join together to contain the novel coronavirus before it grows into a global pandemic.

After weeks of strong and rigorous measures to rein in the spread of the disease, China's efforts have paid off. The number of new COVID-19 cases in the country dropped to double-digit figures on Friday for the first time since Jan. 20.

Photo taken with a mobile phone shows a 98-year-old woman patient (in a wheelchair) and her daughter (3rd R) taking a group photo with medical workers before leaving the Leishenshan hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, March 1, 2020. (Photo by Gao Xiang/Xinhua)

China's practices have shown that by speedy and committed containment efforts, the spread of COVID-19 can be thwarted. Therefore, it is imperative to form a global consensus on the importance of prompt COVID-19 prevention and control measures.

To conquer the outbreak, governments around the world should act with speed, scale and clear-minded determination, and, in the words of World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, pull out all the stops.

They should take prevention and control measures seriously and demonstrate the level of political commitment that matches the level of the peril the world is facing.

To push back the disease, all countries should also strengthen coordination and cooperation at all levels at home.

Staff of Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education arrange boxes of donated masks by China in Tehran, Iran, on Feb. 25, 2020. (Photo by Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua)

China's efforts in the past weeks have yielded positive results only after a collective, coordinated and comprehensive method which has motivated the entire machinery of the government and all walks of life in Chinese society.

Meanwhile, countries also need to strengthen mutual assistance and collaboration and work with regional and international organizations to properly tackle the virus.

Since the beginning of the outbreak, China has conducted active international cooperation, including its timely sharing of such critical information as the whole genome sequence of the virus, and such badly needed materials as test kits.

A member (R) of "Mask Panda Action Team", a volunteer group initiated by local Chinese community and later joined by more people in Japan, hands out masks to local people to help with the prevention of the novel coronavirus disease in Tokyo, Japan, Feb. 29, 2020. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)

Viruses do not respect borders; neither do they distinguish between races or nations. Therefore, responsible governments worldwide should stand firmly against hatred and racism, and join hands to promote disease prevention and clinical treatment as well as vaccine development.

"This is not just a threat for individual people, or individual countries. We're all in this together, and we can only save lives together," said the WHO chief at a recent media briefing.

His words should be taken seriously. Cooperation is truly indispensible now if we want to make the difference between life and death.