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U.S. fatalities from Covid-19 may be as low as 60,000 — far fewer than earlier projections — because of safety measures such as social distancing, the nation’s top infectious disease expert said Thursday.
“The real data are telling us it is highly likely we are having a definite positive effect by the mitigation things that we’re doing, this physical separation,” Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told NBC in aninterview.
“I believe we are going to see a downturn in that, and it looks more like the 60,000, than the 100,000 to 200,000” projected fatalities, he said. “But having said that we better be careful that we don’t say, ‘OK, we’re doing so well we could pull back.’”
Deborah Birx, the top public health official coordinating the White House’s coronavirus task force, projected March 31 that as many as 240,000 Americanscould die as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, even with another 30 days of the most stringent public health restrictions.
32,829 in U.S.Most new cases today
-19% Change in MSCI World Index of global stocks since Wuhan lockdown, Jan. 23
-0.969 Change in U.S. treasury bond yield since Wuhan lockdown, Jan. 23