"If US Lockdown Measures Had Been Implemented One Week Earlier, 36,000 Deaths Could Have Been Prevented"

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Researchers at Columbia University in the United States have announced modeling research results showing that if the U.S. government had implemented the COVID-19 lockdown measures started in mid-March one week earlier, the cumulative death toll would have decreased by about 36,000. If implemented two weeks earlier, the death toll would have been about 16% of the current cumulative deaths.

According to the New York Times (NYT) on the 20th (local time), Columbia University researchers reported that as of May 3, the number of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. was 65,307, but modeling results showed that if lockdown measures had been implemented one week earlier, the death toll would have been 29,410, about 36,000 fewer. The U.S. Donald Trump administration had implemented lockdown measures such as travel restrictions, bans on gatherings, and stay-at-home orders starting March 16. The researchers pointed out that the timing difference in social distancing led to significant results.

The researchers stated that if the U.S. government had implemented lockdown measures two weeks earlier, 84% of the total deaths could have been prevented, and the cumulative death toll would have been limited to 11,253. Jeffrey Shaman, a professor of epidemiology at Columbia University who led the study, explained, "A small difference in the timing of lockdown during the phase of infectious disease spread has a tremendous impact on reducing the number of deaths." The researchers warned that if new outbreaks are not blocked during the easing of lockdown measures, COVID-19 could spread widely again at any time.

To date, the United States has the highest cumulative number of confirmed cases and deaths worldwide. According to COVID-19 statistics from Johns Hopkins University, as of this day, the cumulative confirmed cases in the U.S. were 1,591,999, and deaths were 94,994.

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