US could have avoided 130,000 COVID deaths with better response, new study says

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• At least 130,000 COVID-19 related deaths could have been circumvented had the United States implemented mitigating policies for the virus, similar to what other nations used.
• According to a Columbia University study, the US death rate which stands in stark difference with six other rich nations is chiefly caused by the shortcomings of the U.S. government to the pandemic.
• So far, the US leads the world in coronavirus deaths with numbers now exceeding 220,000.

As the United States leads the world in COVID-19-related deaths surpassing 220,000 so far, a report suggests that at least 130,000 lives could have been saved had the country adopted preventive strategies similar to those used in other high-income countries, in response to the virus.

The “abject failures of U.S. government policies and crisis messaging” was highlighted in the new study by the National Center for Disaster Preparedness to explain the reasons why U.S. death rates are disproportionately high, accounting for 20% of COVID-19 cases globally despite having just 4% of the world’s population.

The nation’s death toll also stands in sharp contrast with six other high-income nations namely: South Korea, Japan, Australia, Germany, Canada and France.

In addition, findings also indicated that if the rate of death in the US is the same to that of France, then it would have led to 55,000 fewer deaths, or if it was similar to South Korea’s, it would have been 215,000 fewer. Also, if the US death rate is the same as its neighbor Canada, roughly 132,000 deaths would have been prevented.

“We therefore posit that had the U.S. government implemented an ‘averaged’ approach that mirrored these countries, the U.S. might have limited fatalities to between 38,000 to 85,000 lives — suggesting that a minimum of 130,000 COVID-19 deaths might have been avoidable given alternate policies, implementation, and leadership,” stated the report.

As per the study, the country’s high death toll is solely blamed on the Trump administration’s failure to implement a mask mandate, have sufficient testing capacity as well as an effective contact tracing system.

Furthermore, “politicization, leadership vacuum, and the failure of top officials to model best practices” were also emphasized in the report.

In recent days, Trump has repeatedly attacked its own administration’s health experts and publicly clashed with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While in contrast, other nations have put politics aside and mounted a response directed by public health experts and global coordination

Source: The Hill