Number of deaths in US to be less than initially projected: Top health expert

The number of deaths in the US due to coronavirus is now expected to be less than the initial projections of between 100,000 and 200,000, the Trump administration's topmost infection disease expert said on Wednesday, attributing it to the strict implementation of social mitigation measures and ramping up of health facilities on a war footing over the last several weeks.

"As we continue to accumulate real data, you go back and modify the models," Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force and the Director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, told Fox News in an interview.

In a frightening warning last month, the top health expert had forecasted that the US will see 100,000 to 200,000 deaths from coronavirus.

Referring to his earlier projection, Fauci said, "As we're getting more data and seeing the positive effect of mitigation, those numbers are going to be downgraded."