A new study published in Science predicts that some levels of social distancing will need to remain in place until 2022 to contain the new coronavirus. One of the greatest dangers of the highly contagious COVID-19 is the possibility of overwhelming the United States healthcare system, and in examining possible outcomes of the disease’s spread, the authors of the study write, “Absent other interventions, a key metric for the success of social distancing is whether critical care capacities are exceeded. To avoid this, prolonged or intermittent social distancing may be necessary into 2022.” Otherwise, “a resurgence in contagion could be possible as late as 2024,” according to the authors, researchers from Harvard’s school of public health.
