If Americans would quit complaining concerning face masks and use them when they leave their homes, they could conserve well over 100,000 lives — and perhaps more than half a million — through the conclusion of February, based on a study published Friday in Nature Medicine.

The researchers viewed five circumstances for how the pandemic could play out with different levels of mask-wearing and guidelines about staying home and social distancing. All the scenarios presumed that no vaccine was accessible, nor any #medicines capable of curing the disease.

Systematically, the most effective — not to mention the least expensive and easiest — way to minimize deaths was to increase the number of individuals wearing masks.

As of Sept. 21, only 49% of Americans stated they “always” used a mask in public, corresponding to the study. If U.S. citizens do not mask up in increasing numbers, they jeopardize another round of compulsory social distancing measures that could shut businesses and schools around the country, the authors mentioned.

“The potential lifesaving benefit of maximizing mask use in the following fall and winter cannot be exaggerated,” wrote the team from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.

The forecasts also suggest that if states continue to ease their social distancing mandates and other constraints regardless of the recent rise in #COVID-19 cases, there could be more than 1 million mortality rates in the U.S. by the end of February.

Reference
New study makes it clear: Mask wearing can save lots of lives. https://www.startribune.com/new-study-makes-it-clear-mask-wearing-can-save-lots-of-lives/572850702/