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The World Health Organisation (WHO) warned on Friday that the number of coronavirus fatalities will “very likely” surpass two million cases without collective global action to contain its spread, as per media reports.
The number of fatalities world has already touched the one million mark.
WHO stated that the prospect of another million deaths due to Covid-19 is not unimaginable if collective action is not taken against the virus.
WHO’s emergency director Michael Ryan told a virtual news conference as cited in the Hindustan Times report: “One million is a terrible number and we need to reflect on that before we start considering a second million.” He questioned: “Are we prepared collectively to do what it takes to avoid that number? If we don’t take those actions... yes, we will be looking at that number and sadly much higher. Unless we do it all, the numbers you speak about are not only imaginable but unfortunately, and sadly, very likely.”
Ryan also highlighted the key challenges along the way, including funding, producing, and distributing any eventual vaccines against Covid-19.
“If we look at losing a million people in nine months and then we just look at the realities of getting a vaccine out there in the next nine months, it’s a big task for everyone involved,” he said.
So far, the deadly virus has claimed the lives of at least 984,068 people since its inception, as per the Agence France Presse report. Around 32.3 million cases of the virus have been reported.
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