US Expects COVID Death Toll to Be More Than 500K By Mid-February

By Staff, Agencies

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is estimating the country’s coronavirus death toll to rise to more than 500,000 by the middle of February.

On Wednesday, the CDC’s national forecast predicted 17,000 to 29,300 new deaths will likely be reported in the week ending February 13. The national ensemble predicts between 465,000 to 508,000 COVID-19 deaths will have been reported by then.

According to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University, the US continues to lead the world in overall cases — 24.4 million — and deaths, with more than 406,000.

The CDC said its ensemble forecasts combine several independent forecasts into a single, overall nationally focused projection over four weeks. This week, the CDC said it received forecasts of COVID-19 deaths over the month from 37 groups that were included in its national forecast.

The US is averaging about 201,000 new cases and about 3,000 deaths each day. Only hours before Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration, the nation surpassed 400,000 coronavirus deaths.

As the US enters “what may well be the toughest and deadliest period of the virus,” Biden is putting forth a national COVID-19 strategy to ramp up vaccinations and testing, reopen schools and businesses and increase the use of masks, including a requirement that they be worn for travel.