By Imperial College London

Even the most aggressive COVID-19 strategies may not be enough to keep the hospital system from being overwhelmed during this pandemic.

Imperial College London projections from last week, while just one set of estimates among many and based largely on modeling for influenza outbreaks instead of the current facts on the ground, painted a grim picture. It found even the most aggressive mitigation strategies — general social distancing, quarantines, closing schools — would not be enough to prevent US hospitals from eventually being overwhelmed unless the country is willing to commit to these drastic measures until a vaccine becomes available.