U.S. faces half a million COVID-19 deaths by end-February, study finds

FILE PHOTO: A billboard encourages social distancing as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak continues in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., October 20, 2020. REUTERS/Bing Guan

LONDON (Reuters) - More than a half million people in the United States could die from COVID-19 by the end of February, but around 130,000 of those lives could be saved if everybody were to wear masks, according to estimates from a modelling study on Friday.

The estimates by researchers at the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation showed that with few effective COVID-19 treatment options and no vaccines yet available, the United States faces "a continued COVID-19 public health challenge through the winter."