Around three million people are likely to die of COVID-19 across the globe by the end of the current year if governments don’t tighten social distancing measures and people aren’t more vigilant about wearing masks.

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) of the University of Washington’s School of Medicine, on which the Trump Administration once relied, came up with the projection, reports NBC News.  

The current coronavirus death tally in the USA is around 188,000. The IHME projected that the number can reach 400,000 by Jan 1 of the next year. 

The IHME also forecast, in a sobering report, that around four million people in total would die worldwide and over 620,000 perish in the US from COVID-19. 

In the “best case” scenario, two million people will be dead across the globe by the end of the running year and there will be anywhere from 257,286 to 327,775 COVID-19 fatalities in the US, the report added.

Also read: Global Covid-19 deaths reach 879, 307

Dr Christopher Murray, director of the IHME, said “The worst is yet to come. We are facing the prospect of a deadly December, especially in Europe, Central Asia, and the United States.”

In a previous statement, Murray said “The science is clear and the evidence irrefutable: mask-wearing, social distancing, and limits to social gatherings are vital to helping prevent transmission of the virus.”

According to the IMHE, partly funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, further predicted that the United States and India are likely to turn out as the worst sufferers from the contagious at the end.

Also read: Covid-19: Total infection rate in Bangladesh now below 20 pc