Related
Researchers behind the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation model from the University of Washington say a major reason why the figure is jumping from 72,000 U.S. deaths by August to 134,000 is the easing or lifting of restrictions in several states too soon.
The nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says that’s alarming.
“There are regions, areas, counties, cities in which you can do that safely now. But there are others that if you do that, it’s really dangerous and that’s the thing you have to be careful of,” he said to CNN’s Chris Cuomo.
“People are already increasing their mobility even before the mandates have come off. Even in states that still have mandates in place,” he said.
They’re also factoring in more testing and revised death counts.
The new data analysis shows sharp rises of estimated COVID-19 deaths in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
In the case of New Jersey, a projection of 16,000 deaths by August is more than double the previous estimate. The new number for Pennsylvania, an estimate of 8,600 deaths by August, is now 3.5 times what it was.