Social distancing measures are working in the United States and may lead to a reduced number of deaths from COVID-19, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told NBC’s Today show on Thursday.
While some earlier projections estimated there could be as many as 100,000 to 200,000 deaths in the U.S. due to the virus, Fauci said on Thursday that the final toll now looks closer to 60,000, according to NPR.
Social distancing practices that have gone into place across the country have helped to reduce the spread of the virus and have contributed to the lower death toll, Fauci said, according to The Hill.
“I think the American public have done a really terrific job just buckling down and doing those physical separations and adhering to those guidelines,” Fauci said, according to The Hill. “Models are really only as good as the assumptions that you put into the model.”
The new projection comes from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, NPR reported. The model predicts that the U.S death toll will be 60,000 through the beginning of August, and that deaths will peak on April 11.
However, Americans should continue to practice social distancing, even through the upcoming holiday weekend, Fauci told CNN on Friday.
“So even though we’re in a holiday season, now is no time to back off,” Fauci told CNN. “As I say so often, now is the time to actually put your foot on the accelerator. Because we’re going in the right direction.”
Fauci also told CNN that an antibody test, which would be able to verify whether someone has recently had COVID-19, could be available within a week.
An antibody test could help determine whether some people are immune to the virus and whether people who have previously been infected can contract the disease again, according to The Hill.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump tweeted that the U.S. has been doing a “great job” following social distancing measures, and urged the American people to “keep going.”