Seattle, August 8 (RHC)-- Nearly 300,000 Americans could be dead from COVID-19 by December 1st, according to a forecast by health experts at the University of Washington, although they said 70,000 lives could be saved if people were scrupulous about wearing masks.

"We're seeing a rollercoaster in the United States.  It appears that people are wearing masks and socially distancing more frequently as infections increase, then after a while as infections drop, people let their guard down," said Dr Christopher Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. 

The U.S. death toll stands at over 159,000 -- the most of any country in the world -- with 4.8 million known cases.