According to the leader of the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), more Americans wearing masks could save about 70,000 lives in the next three months. Actions to combat the spread of the virus is the responsibility of government officials and law enforcers.
Data from Johns Hopkins University showed that “at least 176,000 people have died of Covid-19 in the U.S. since the pandemic began, and more than 5.6 million have been infected,” as cited in a news report. In the opinion of researchers, if the government does not enforce safety measures further, 134,000 more Americans could die from Covid-19 by December.
Furthermore, the actual number could probably be much worse if mandates relaxed. If the government will not change the nation’s prevention approaches, IHME projected that “death rates would dip in September but rise later in the fall, and the total would reach about 310,000 by December 1,” as stated in a news report.
“It really depends on what our leaders do, (both) as individuals, and what governments do… If governments ease current social distancing restrictions and mask mandates, daily death rates could reach 6,000 daily by December, up from his current prediction of 2,000 daily.”
Dr. Chris Murray, IHME chief
Behavioral changes can have an impact on projections. Dr. Murray explained that the total death projection up to December could drop by almost 70,000 if more people would wear masks. Moreover, he added that about 95% of the US population would have to wear masks for that to happen.
The growth rate of coronavirus cases has been decreasing for weeks in some parts of the U.S. Death rates, on the other hand, increases. For the first time in more than three weeks, America’s seven-day average for daily coronavirus deaths went below 1,000 on Friday, with only 987, as shown in Johns Hopkins University data. Moreover, a news report mentioned that the daily U.S. cases over the last week averaged 44,100 as of Friday, which is below the peak average of 67,317 as of July 22.
The Director of US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Robert Redfield, expects the number of deaths to decline by next week due to continued safety and mitigation measures.
“We don’t need to have a third wave in the heartland right now.”
Dr. Robert Redfield, Director of US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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