We use the IHME Global projections to show that 38% of Global Deaths to January 1 can be saved by total masking. We also show the countries with leading numbers of deaths by January 1 in IHME projections, and the number of lives that can be saved in those by masking.
The IHME projects 2.778 million deaths by the Coronavirus by January 1, 2021. With 95% masking, that can be reduced to 2.063 million deaths, saving 715,000 lives.
Currently, the Global deaths by the Coronavirus is 0.923 million. This means that 1.855 million more will die by January 1 in the projections. The ratio of the 0.715 million to the 1.855 million is 0.385. So 38.5% of new deaths by January 1 can be saved by masking.
It has now been shown that wearing a mask reduces the risk of infection to the wearer by 2/3. It also limits the spread of droplets and aerosols from the wearer to others. Social distancing reduces the risk of catching the virus to 1/10 the risk of not social distancing.
We present a table of leading countries with Projected Deaths on January 1. We first list in the table the Present Deaths in those countries, then follow Projected Deaths with Deaths with Masking, and end with Lives Saved by Masking. The projections are from the Sept. 11 IHME projections. We stopped the list at 20,000 projected deaths.
| Country | Present Deaths | Projected Deaths | Deaths with Masking | Lives Saved by Masking |
| India | 78,586 | 646,794 | 458,081 | 188,713 |
| US | 194,069 | 415,090 | 298,589 | 116,501 |
| Brazil | 131,625 | 185,495 | 169,066 | 16,429 |
| Mexico | 70,821 | 138,416 | 129,218 | 9,198 |
| Russia | 18,517 | 104,416 | 31,096 | 73,320 |
| France | 30,903 | 80,829 | 66,732 | 14,097 |
| UK | 41,717 | 69,548 | 59,819 | 9,729 |
| Spain | 29,747 | 67,651 | 65,593 | 2,058 |
| Italy | 35,610 | 61,209 | 46,364 | 14,845 |
| Philippines | 4,371 | 57,850 | 57,457 | 393 |
| Turkey | 7,056 | 53,658 | 49,301 | 4,357 |
| Iran | 23,157 | 44,509 | 29,539 | 14,970 |
| Peru | 30,526 | 44,415 | 44,201 | 214 |
| Iraq | 8,019 | 31,181 | 17,195 | 13,986 |
| Germany | 9,354 | 29,505 | 12,002 | 17,503 |
| Indonesia | 8,723 | 28,960 | 20,330 | 8,630 |
| Canada | 9,220 | 26,042 | 19,200 | 6,842 |
| Netherlands | 6,292 | 24,836 | 8,410 | 16,426 |
| Bangladesh | 4,733 | 24,611 | 8,878 | 15,733 |
| S. Africa | 15,447 | 20,340 | 19,646 | 694 |
The three countries with the largest number of lives saved by masking are India with 189,000, the US with 117,000, and Russia with 73,000. Together, they add up to 378,534 lives saved, or 53% of the world total. India alone makes up 26% of the world total of savable lives by masking, and the US is 16%.
