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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsModels shift to predict dramatically more U.S. deaths as states relax social distancing
A key model of the coronavirus pandemic favored by the White House nearly doubled its prediction Monday for how many people will die from the virus in the U.S. by August primarily because states are reopening too soon.
The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washingtons School of Medicine is now projecting 134,000 coronavirus-related fatalities, up from a previous prediction of 72,000. Factoring in the scientists margin of error, the new prediction ranges from 95,000 to 243,000.
Dr. Christopher Murray, the director of IMHE, told reporters on a call Monday the primary reason for the increase is many states premature relaxation of social distancing.
For the first time, Murray explained, the model is factoring in data from four different cell phone providers showing a major uptick in Americans going out in public.
This rise of mobility in the last week or 10 days is likely leading to an increase in transmission, he said.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/models-shift-to-predict-dramatically-more-us-deaths-as-states-relax-social-distancing/ar-BB13AKrZ?li=BBnb7Kz
spanone
(137,268 posts)And if they overshoot, they'll claim that's how many lives they've saved
spinbaby
(15,177 posts)Even the wingnuts will take it seriously when grandma dies.
Alex4Martinez
(2,734 posts)We are expected to surpass 100,000 deaths on May 21.
COVID-19: Whats New for May 4, 2020
Main updates on IHME COVID-19 predictions since April 29, 2020
UPDATED IHME COVID-19 PROJECTIONS: PREDICTING THE NEXT PHASE OF THE EPIDEMIC
http://www.healthdata.org/covid/updates