Briefing | Between tragedies and statistics

The hard choices covid policymakers face

Epidemiological models are among their only guides

|WASHINGTON, DC

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“WE HAVE NO choice,” said President Donald Trump on March 30th, after announcing that federal guidelines on social distancing would remain in force until the end of April. “Modelling…shows the peak in fatalities will not arrive for another two weeks. The same modelling also shows that, by very vigorously following these guidelines, we could save more than 1 million American lives.”

This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline "Hard choices"

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