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And as the virus spreads relentlessly in American communities, experts warn that the coming weeks are likely to be brutal and the death toll from the pandemic will continue to rise.
By Dec. 18, more than 2,300 Americans could lose their lives every day, according to the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Measurement and Evaluation (IHME).
“We expect daily deaths to peak at over 2,500 per day by mid-January,” the IHME modeling team wrote on Thursday.
The group has also significantly increased its death forecast for Covid-19, now forecasting a total of 471,000 US deaths by March 1, more than 30,000 since their last projection about a week ago.
“It’s very frustrating sometimes because we know what works,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN’s Chris Cuomo Thursday night. “If everyone would come together as a country, do the basic things we talked about, wear the mask, keep the distance, avoid gatherings and crowds, do things outside … this is not much. It is easy to do. “
These simple steps could save lives. According to the IHME team, 65,000 lives could be saved by March 1 if 95% of Americans wore masks.
Doctors, nurses and hospitals call on the public to celebrate responsibly
“The current record outbreak is causing an uncontrolled spread in the community and infection that has already overloaded health systems in some areas and which will eventually consume the capacity of our health care system and could reduce the availability of care in many areas. many places in our country, ”they told me.
“What is at stake is the increased risk that one of your loved ones will fall ill and then be hospitalized and die during the holidays,” said Dr Henry Walke, COVID-19 incident manager for the CDC, during a conference call.
And with the CDC previously estimating that at least 40% of infections are asymptomatic, officials fear people could bring the infection with them to holiday gatherings without even knowing it and could put other more vulnerable members of the community at risk. their family.
“I haven’t seen my parents since January,” Walke said. “I am staying at home and I have older parents who would like to see me and who would like to see my children.”
Over the past week, similar messages have been echoed by both leading health experts and heads of state.
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards has warned that if residents are planning a Thanksgiving that looks like the previous ones, “you are making a mistake.” In Utah, where hospitals are overwhelmed and about 45 intensive care beds remain vacant, the governor said only people from the same household are meeting for the holidays.
No more curfews, measures to curb the spread
Non-essential work and gatherings must stop between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., the governor said, adding that the ordinance will remain in effect for a month.
A state-wide curfew is also in effect in Ohio, where Gov. Mike DeWine has clarified that police will not take people out if they see them driving at night.
“We have to assume that they have a legitimate reason for withdrawing,” the governor said. “But on the other hand, if there’s a number of people gathering somewhere, and the police see this … certainly they’re probably going to stop and say, ‘hey, this is – after 10 o’clock, you guys need to get home. ‘”
In Arkansas, the governor announced the closure at 11 p.m. of all businesses licensed to sell and allow alcohol consumption on site.
CNN’s Maggie Fox, Jamiel Lynch, and Rebekah Riess contributed to this report.
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