If 95 Percent of Americans Wear Masks, 100,000 Lives Can Be Saved by January 1: IHME Report - Newsweek

As winter weather merges with many people moving life indoors, global health experts said wearing masks could save 100,000 lives from COVID-19 by January 1.

Christopher Murray, the director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation—warned of a fall and winter season "surge" of coronavirus cases and deaths.

Researchers at the University of Washington's IHME said outdoor mask usage is just above 50 percent, and between 95,000-100,000 lives could be protected from COVID-19 related deaths if 95 percent of Americans wear masks in the coming cold weather months.

Despite the impending release of several potential vaccines, public health experts say a winter lockdown and coming burst of cases may occur if people become "less careful.".

But that death toll projection still foresees 168,000 more deaths on top of the nearly 204,000 deaths already recorded across the United States since the start of the pandemic.

Worldwide, there are 32,595,000 recorded coronavirus cases, including just under 990,000 deaths.