Coronavirus’ death toll in the US more than doubled in just 10 days, according to the latest figures.
The COVID-19 death toll climbed to 45,435 on Tuesday morning, up from 22,129 on April 12, according to the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
The institute’s forecast model, which has been cited by the White House coronavirus task force, has predicted that fatalities will reach 65,976 by Aug. 4.
The current trajectory puts the new death toll nearly 10 percent higher than previous models, up from the 60,308 predicted five days ago.
“By its nature, forecasting is only as accurate and reliable as the data one uses in the modeling,” IHME director Christopher Murray said last week in a statement. “As the quality and quantity of our data increase, we will offer policymakers refined views of the pandemic’s course.”