Nearly 60,000 Americans could die of Covid-19 in the next three weeks. There are ways to turn things around, experts say

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Fri, 2020-11-27 09:22 — mike kraft

Nearly 60,000 Americans could die of Covid-19 in the next three weeks. There are ways to turn things around, experts say The Covid-19 pandemic is raging across the US -- already more devastating than previous surges and showing no signs of slowing down. Christina Maxouris, CNN CNN

(CNN) The Covid-19 pandemic is raging across the US -- already more devastating than previous surges and showing no signs of slowing down.

On Thanksgiving, the US marked its 24th day in a row with more than 100,000 new cases. Hospitalizations Thursday hit a new high -- for the 17th consecutive day -- with now more than 90,400 Covid-19 patients nationwide, according to the COVID Tracking Project. More than 1,200 deaths were reported.

The country's death toll since the pandemic's start is now more than 263,000. And nearly another 60,000 could lose their lives over the next three weeks, according to an ensemble forecast published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week.

One expert told CNN Wednesday night the number of daily deaths will likely double in the next ten days. ...

In a week, more likely two weeks, we will see a surge upon a surge," Dr. William Schaffner, professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University, said Wednesday. "We're in for a tough time."

In other words, projections for the coming weeks are grim. But that doesn't mean it's too late to begin turning things around.

"It we all got together, wore the masks and did the social distancing, we could bend this curve within two or three weeks," Schaffner said. "We would see actually transmission go down even before we get to the vaccines."

It's a simple step, but could make a world of a difference. More than 40,000 lives could be saved over the next two months if 95% of Americans wore face masks, according to projections from the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

Amid the crisis, more local and state leaders have pushed out mask orders in the past few weeks hoping to curb Covid-19 spread -- including GOP governors who previously resisted similar mandates.

Meanwhile, in West Virginia, Gov. Jim Justice has pleaded with residents in the past weeks to wear a face covering, saying masks are "really the only bullet in the gun." ...

Also see: Government Model Suggests U.S. COVID-19 Cases Could Be Approaching 100 Million

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