Washington: Nearly 300,000 Americans could be dead from COVID-19 by December 1, according to a forecast by health experts at the University of Washington, although they have said 70,000 lives could be saved if people were scrupulous about wearing masks.
“We’re seeing a rollercoaster in the United States. It appears that people are wearing masks and socially distancing more frequently as infections increase, then after a while as infections drop, people let their guard down,” said Dr Christopher Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
The US death toll stands at more than 159,000, the most of any country in the world, with 4.8 million known cases.
