Coronavirus: US death toll would have been halved had it acted 4 days sooner, study says

Growth rate for new infections, fatalities slowed dramatically after introduction of self-isolation measures and wearing of face masks, American researchers say

Had Washington acted even a month after Beijing shut down Wuhan, human cost would have been a fraction of what it is today, they say

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The swifter introduction of measures to contain the coronavirus could have saved thousands of American lives, according to a new study. Photo: Reuters

Published: 12:00am, 8 May 2020Updated: 1:01am, 8 May 2020

The daily death toll from Covid-19 in the United States could have been more than halved if authorities had acted more swiftly in recommending self-isolation and the wearing of face masks, according to a new study.

Several US states began issuing stay-at-home orders in late March, while federal health authorities began recommending the use of face masks for all in early April. However, had such measures been implemented just four days earlier, the roughly 2,000 Covid-19 deaths currently being recorded each day would have been cut to less than 1,000, the study said.

Furthermore, lifting the measures in a bid to kick-start the economy would almost instantly increase the daily death toll to more than 3,000, it said.

“These findings may inform policymaking,” said the researchers from Princeton Medical Centre and other research institutes in a yet-to-be-peer reviewed paper posted on Medrxiv.org on Wednesday.

US health authorities only began recommending the use of face masks for all in early April. Photo: Getty Images via AFP

The findings echoed comments made last month by Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the US.

Coronavirus: US death toll would have been halved had it acted 4 days sooner, study says

Growth rate for new infections, fatalities slowed dramatically after introduction of self-isolation measures and wearing of face masks, American researchers say Had Washington acted even a month after Beijing shut down Wuhan, human cost would have been a fraction of what it is today, they say

Growth rate for new infections, fatalities slowed dramatically after introduction of self-isolation measures and wearing of face masks, American researchers say

Had Washington acted even a month after Beijing shut down Wuhan, human cost would have been a fraction of what it is today, they say