15% of Americans have been infected with COVID-19: Death toll is predicted to surpass half a million by April with daily fatalities peaking in mid-January - as US sets another grim record-breaking day of 232k new cases and 108k hospitalizations
New data from a leading COVID-19 model has revealed that 15 percent of Americans have been infected with coronavirus as hospitalizations and new daily cases broke records once again on Friday. The University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation also revealed its latest projections for COVID-19 deaths as part of Friday’s report, stating that 502,000 Americans are predicted to die from the virus by April 1. It also predicts that new daily fatalities will climb even higher, peaking in mid-January at close to 4,000 deaths a day if states don’t continue with safety measures such as mask mandates. On Friday, a record 232,105 news daily cases were reported in the US and hospitalizations climbed to an all-time high of 108,044. The 7-day average for the three metrics that mark the severity of the nation’s outbreak – new cases, new deaths and overall hospitalizations – all broke new records for the second day in a row. The new fatality projections came just hours befo