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The coronavirus will infect more than 5 million people — and kill nearly 300,000 — across the US by late July if states fully reopen without social distancing measures in place, according to a new analysis.
The projected figures, detailed in the new Penn Wharton Budget model, forecast potential outcomes under various reopening scenarios.
If states fully reopen, with “reduced distancing,” more than 5.4 million people nationwide will be infected and 292,692 will have died by July 24, the analysis indicates.
Partially reopening states while keeping social distancing measures in place will result in a different scenario — about 3.2 million positive cases and nearly 173,000 deaths by the same date, according to the modeling.
Previous forecasts from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business model projected a death toll as high as 350,000, according to a Yahoo! Finance report. Though the new numbers are lower, they are still higher than other models predict, the outlet reported.
Even for states under a full lockdown, the model estimated a death toll at just over 156,000, up from its previous forecasts of 117,000, according to the report.
By late Wednesday morning, more than 1.5 million coronavirus cases and nearly 92,000 deaths had been reported in the US, Johns Hopkins University data shows.
While the Wharton modeling seems to warn against a full reopening, it does point to the economic benefit of loosening restrictions.
Continuing the lockdown, with full social distancing measures in place, will cause the US GDP to plummet by 10.8 percent compared to last year, by July 24, according to the report.
If states reopen while maintaining social distancing, the GDP would see a smaller decline of 7.7 percent within the same time frame.
If social distancing is reduced, the GDP would decline by only 6.6 percent, the data shows.



