[Breaking News] US Faces Worst-Case Scenario of COVID-19 with Over 100 Million Infections

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyungsoo] There is a projection that if the United States fails to properly respond to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), more than 100 million confirmed cases could occur.

The New York Times (NYT) warned that in the worst-case scenario where no measures are taken by U.S. health authorities to prevent the spread of COVID-19, 160 million to 214 million people in the United States could be infected.

NYT obtained the results of a model analysis on the spread of COVID-19 within the U.S., which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) discussed privately with academic experts.

If the worst-case scenario unfolds, it is estimated that the number of deaths from COVID-19 could reach 200,000 to 1.7 million.

However, it was stated that efforts by the U.S. government, companies, and individuals to prevent the spread of COVID-19 could mitigate the situation. Measures to prevent the worst-case scenario include expanding infection testing, tracking the movements of infected individuals, and suspending large-scale gatherings.

It was also suggested that voluntary 'social distancing' by citizens is necessary as much as government measures to prevent the worst-case scenario.

The CDC did not disclose the model analysis results of COVID-19 spread due to the difficulty in estimating the infectiousness of asymptomatic individuals and those with mild symptoms.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.