BOSTON (WHDH) - A COVID-19 simulator created in part by Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School could help leaders decide when to reopen their states by projecting virus-related deaths and cases.
The online simulator allows people to see how different intervention plans could impact the number of deaths, cases and hospitalizations from COVID-19 both nationwide and statewide.
Dr. Jagpreet Chhatwal, of the MGH Institute for Technology Assessment, says they made the simulator available online to anyone so it could be accessible and bring more awareness about the virus.
“People may be questioning the decisions but looking at some of the numbers can change their understanding,” he said, “so we hope that this tool can inform general public awareness also.”
In Massachusetts, the simulator shows that if current restrictions are kept in place, the Commonwealth would see less than 5,000 deaths by the end of August. However, if they are lifted in less than two weeks, the state could see more than 40,000 deaths by the end of summer.
The designers admit the tool does not take into effect what the numbers would look like if businesses are opened up in phases, which Gov. Charles Baker says will be the case for Massachusetts.
“As we are learning more about it the plan is to continue to update the model,” Chhatwal said.
The hope is that other states, such as ones already starting to reopen, will not only look at this online tool but participate with their own up-to-date information.
“The hope is that we make decisions on data and, as information is changing, we dynamically update our decisions,” Chhatwal added.
The online tool has been up and running since last week.
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