CDC Projects Up to 282,000 COVID-19 Deaths in the United States by December

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts that there will be 260,000 to 282,000 coronavirus deaths by December 5, according to the forecast that it published on November 12.

More deaths next month

Currently, there are at least 10.5 million cases of coronavirus in the United States, and more than 242,000 have died, according to the data from John Hopkins University.

Unlike other models, the CDC's ensemble forecast is also based on a group of projections the CDC received, and it only offers projections a few weeks into the future. The previous ensemble forecast published November 5 projected that there would be up to 266,000 COVID-19 deaths by November 28.

Another model predicts that there will be 438,941 COVID-19 deaths by March 1,2021. That model is run by the institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation or IHME at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

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However, it states in the country starts to ease its restrictions and don't push for the need to wear masks, the deaths could hit 587,000 by March 1.

The updated forecasts come as new coronavirus hospitalizations and deaths are increasing at very alarming rates. Health experts worry that they will get worse before the holidays.

There were 67,096 current hospitalizations reported on November 12 across the entire country, according to the COVID Tracking Project, making it the third consecutive day that the country has topped 60,000 current hospitalizations.

Eighteen states and one U.S. territory reported high COVID-19 hospitalizations on November 12. Those affected are Idaho, Colorado, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Maine, Nebraska, Missouri, Ohio, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, Tennessee, Wyoming, West Virginia, and Puerto Rico.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent, said that the COVID-19 cases in the United States are a humanitarian disaster.

According to Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. recorded 1,893 deaths on November 11. The total tally would reflect a new high since May, but it may be skewed by an outsized number from Georgia that could include backlogged deaths.

According to the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, more than 110,000 additional people in the U.S. are projected to die from COVID-19 in just the next two months.

Critical holidays

Medical experts worry that Americans won't listen to the warnings as the country prepares for Thanksgiving, and gatherings could spark new COVID-19 outbreaks.

According to Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University, separation should be the norm. The safest thing to do is to stay separate and to connect with loved ones virtually.

Schaffner added that the best thing that families can do this holiday season is not to gather in person with their older high-risk relatives.

According to the Policy Lab, the pandemic has taken such an emotional toll on everyone, especially on children and senior citizens. Medical experts are suspecting that many families will still take the risk of gathering for the holidays.

If the families want to gather, it is best to do it outdoors instead of indoors as it is safer. There will be enough room for social distancing, and people must quarantine for 14 days before visiting their families.