Health security

 

Wearing masks could save more than 100,000 US lives through February, new study suggests

The study -- from the Covid-19 forecasting team at the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation -- notes that, in September, only about 49% of US residents reported that they "always" wear a mask in public.

If mask-wearing is 49% through February and states continue with removing social distancing mandates, the Covid-19 death toll across the United States could reach about 1 million deaths by February 28, according to the study, published in the journal Nature Medicine on Friday.

Yet under the assumption that states shut down when their daily death rate exceeds 8 deaths per 1 million people in the population but mask-wearing doesn't change, the study's model projections forecast the death toll could reach 511,373 deaths by February 28.

The scenario that 95% of people in each state wear masks -- in addition to states reinstating social distancing mandates if their daily death rates exceed 8 deaths per 1 million people -- resulted in the lowest death toll projection, with 381,798 deaths by February 28, according to the study.