The reason? More people are wearing masks. During a Wednesday interview with CNN, Ali H. Mokdad, PhD, professor of Health Metrics Sciences at IHME, explained why the projected death toll is currently trending downward. “What I’ve seen is an increase in mask use, especially in states that have been hit by COVID-19—Texas, California, Florida, Arizona,” he said. “And we’re seeing a reduction in morbidity in these states. The improvement has been much higher in states where a mandate has been put in place.” The IHME’s Healthdata.org has become a widely accepted resource for reliable projections that are used by the White House and media outlets alike. At the time of publication, it currently projects roughly 219,000 coronavirus-related fatalities by November 1, which is down from roughly 224,000 earlier in the week. It also projects that a universal mask mandate—defined as 95 percent of all Americans wearing face coverings—would lead to an additional 35,000 lives saved by November 1. In his CNN interview, Mokdad said, “A mandate is very important and is helping, and a national mandate, of course, would do much better.” RELATED: For more up-to-date information, sign up for our daily newsletter. IHME’s updated projections reflect a growing body of evidence that mask-wearing significantly stems the spread of COVID-19. A June study out of Virginia Commonwealth University showed that countries that quickly enacted widespread mask use had far lower death rates than those that didn’t. And research from the Philadelphia Inquirer in June found that states that only recommended their residents wear masks—without requiring them—saw coronavirus cases rise by 84 percent over a two-week period. By comparison, states with mask mandates saw cases fall 25 percent over the course of the same period.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb Recently, Robert Redfield, MD, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), offered insight into just how much masks can help contain the coronavirus pandemic. In an interview with the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) on July 14, he said: “If we could get everybody to wear a mask right now, I think in four, six, eight weeks we could bring this epidemic under control.” And if you are confused about what to use to cover up, check out You Should Not Be Wearing One of These Instead of a Face Mask, CDC Warns.
