'One million is a terrible number and we need to reflect on that before we start considering a second million,' says WHO's emergency director Michael Ryan.
WHO officials warned about the severity of the covid pandemic and said that the one million death toll is likely to be doubled up in future if collective actions are not taken. He also cited concern about the need for a Covid-19 vaccine to curb the infections and fatality rate.
A report in NDTV quoted WHO's Emergency Director Michael Ryan as saying, "One million is a terrible number and we need to reflect on that before we start considering a second million," the WHO's emergencies director Michael Ryan told a virtual news conference, when asked if it was unthinkable that two million people could die in the pandemic.
He further added, "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."
According to recent statistics on the wikipedia, since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, 9,86,000 have succumbed to death with nearly 32.4 M infections registered across the globe.
India's COVID-19 tally sprinted past 59 lakh with 85,362 fresh cases in a span of 24 hours, while over 48 lakh people have recovered from the disease, states Union Health Ministry's data.