Young people are the engine of ideas and must drive the solutions to help a world battling COVID-19, said World Health Organization (WHO) Executive Director Mike Ryan.

Getting involved was the key message from Ryan and COVID-19 Technical Lead Maria Van Kerkhove as they focused on youngsters, following International Youth Day on Wednesday.

The coronavirus has had a devastating effect on societies around the world as it brought health systems to their knees in the worst-hit countries, followed by a record-breaking recession.

As the world looks to respond, Ryan says youngsters should help develop a better future.

"Young people and younger adults, they are the engine of society's ideas, they are the engine of innovation, they don't believe any idea is crazy and are willing to try anything once," he said.

"So I think we need to leverage and kind of amplify the creativity of youth."

Ryan also dismissed claims that younger people have been negligent over the risks from COVID-19 as they are at a lower risk from the virus.

"We have seen some of the rhetoric in the past number of days saying it is the young people's fault. It is nobody's fault. The pandemic is not the fault of young people. It is a virus that is spreading in our society and once it can enter and establish itself in any geographic area or age group, it represents a threat to all areas and all age groups."

Van Kerkhove said everyone is capable of helping in the global fight against COVID-19.

"Get yourselves involved and keep yourselves safe as you have a role to play in this pandemic," she said.

"I think it is important that everyone feels they have a role to play, that everyone needs to be part of this fight against the pandemic."

Check out our new six-part podcast series Notes on a Pandemic as CGTN Europe finds out how business, science and people have risen to the challenge of COVID-19.