If the world does not takes any action to combat the coronavirus pandemic, it is ‘very likely’ that around two million people will die from the COVID-19 disease, the World Health Organization said Friday.

The worldwide death due to the pandemic is looming near one million and the WHO said the prospect of another million deaths was not unimaginable.

“One million is a terrible number and we need to reflect on that before we start considering a second million,” the WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme head Michael Ryan told a virtual news conference when asked if it was unthinkable that two million people could die in the pandemic.

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Ryan said, “Are we prepared collectively to do what it takes to avoid that number?” He added that the countries don’t take actions to combat the pandemic, the world will be looking at the 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.”

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The coronavirus has killed almost 984,068 since it first emerged in China last year, according to an AFP tally. Around 32.3 million cases of the virus have been registered worldwide, with the US recording the most number of infections (nearly 7 million) followed by India (5.8 million) and Brazil (4.6 million). 

Ryan reflected on the challenges ahead in 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.