WHO: Global COVID-19 death toll could hit two million before vaccine in wide use

 The global death toll from COVID-19 could double to 2 million before a successful vaccine is widely used and could be even higher without concerted action to curb the pandemic, an official at the World Health Organization said on Friday.

“Unless we do it (take concerted action) … the number you speak about (2 million deaths) is not only imaginable, but sadly very likely,” Mike Ryan, head of the U.N. agency’s emergencies programme, told a briefing on Friday.

Ryan said young people should not be blamed for a recent increase in infections despite growing concerns that youths are driving its spread after restrictions and lockdowns were eased around the world.

“I really hope we don’t get into finger wagging: it’s all because of the youth,” said Ryan. “The last thing a young person needs is an old person pontificating and wagging the finger.”