(CNN) If 95% of Americans wore masks in public, more than 100,000 lives could be saved from Covid-19 through February, a new modeling study suggests. The study -- from the Covid-19 forecasting team at the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation -- notes that, in September, only about 49% of US residents reported that they "always" wear a mask in public. If mask-wearing is 49% through February and states continue with removing social distancing mandates, the Covid-19 death toll across the United States could reach about 1 million deaths by February 28, according to the study, published in the journal Nature Medicine on Friday. The scenario that 95% of people in each state wear masks -- in addition to states reinstating social distancing mandates if their daily death rates exceed 8 deaths per 1 million people -- resulted in the lowest death toll projection, with 381,798 deaths by February 28, according to the study. JUST WATCHED 'I don't know what it takes at this point': Gupta vents about lack of mask wearing Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH 'I don't know what it takes at this point': Gupta vents about lack of mask wearing 02:46Read More

Source: CNN October 23, 2020 15:37 UTC