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A top official on the White House coronavirus task force issued an ominous warning on Wednesday, declaring that more millennials in Italy and France had gotten sick than anticipated because they failed to heed warnings about large gatherings after initials warnings that focused on the elderly.

“There are concerning reports coming out of France and Italy about some young people getting seriously ill, and very seriously ill, in the ICU,” Dr. Deborah Birx said at the White House daily briefing on the pandemic.

Part of the cause may be that health officials worldwide may have minimized the risk to young people compared to the elderly.

“We think part of this may be that people heeded the early data coming out of China and coming out of South Korea about the elderly or those with pre-existing medical conditions were at particular risk,” Birx said.

“It may have been that the millennial generation, our largest generation, our future generation, that will carry us through for the next multiple decades — there may be a disproportional number of infections among that group. and so, even if it’s a rare occurrence, it may be seen more frequently in that group and be evident now,” she continued, calling on millennials to avoid large gatherings out of a false sense of security.

The president was also asked about his message to young people, some of whom believe the virus danger has been overblown, and said they should avoid large gatherings so that they don’t infect themselves or their loved ones.

“We don’t want them gathering, and I see they do gather, including on beaches and in restaurants, young people. They don’t realize, and they’re feeling invincible,” Trump said.

“I don’t know if you felt invincible when you were very young, but they were feeling totally invincible, or are feeling that way, but they don’t realize that they could be carrying lots of bad things home to grandmother and grandfather and even their parents. so, we want them to heed the advice,” the president said.

Birx reassured Americans that to date there have not been significant numbers of deaths among younger people.

“We have not seen any significant mortality in the children, but we are concerned about the early reports coming out of Italy and France. So again, I’m going to call on that generation … not only calling on you to heed what’s in the guidance, but to really ensure that each and every one of you are protecting each other,” Birx said.

“We cannot have these large gatherings that continue to occur throughout the country for people who are off work to then be socializing in large groups and spreading the virus.”

The president’s caution comes as thousands of American college students refuse to let the pandemic get in the way of their annual pilgrimage to Florida for spring break.

Ignoring repeated warnings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization about the potentially deadly COVID-19 virus, the masses showed up in Miami.