THE CURVES DON'T LIE
·Updated:
·

As states adopt different policies in re-opening their economies and more states relax regulations regarding social distancing, the number of projected COVID-19 deaths is looking bleaker by the day. According to a coronavirus model often cited by the White House, re-openings will likely lead to 134,000 COVID-19 deaths in the US, a staggering number nearly double its previous prediction.

And just in case you need further data to understand that limiting mobility lead to a decrease in new COVID-19 cases, here's a graph from physicist and systems scientist Yaneer Bar-Yam that looks at how the countries that have been rigorous in enforcing lockdowns and social distancing have fared better in battling with coronavirus:

The lesson seems to be pretty clear here: while countries like New Zealand and South Korea are succeeding in controlling the outbreak, the numbers are not looking good for the US and the UK, both countries that were slow to address the severity of the disease, and Sweden, which has opted for the herd immunity approach, an approach that is now seeing its consequences manifest.

Within the US, while certain parts of the country have managed to flatten their curves, towns and rural counties are now being hit particularly hard. And the cost of re-opening the economy too soon is a cost that will come at tens of thousands of lives.


[Via Twitter]

Digg is the homepage of the internet, featuring the best articles, videos, and original content that the web is talking about right now. It's also the website you're on right now.

Want more stories like this?

Every day we send an email with the top stories from Digg.

Subscribe