"The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME)" launched in 2007 "with the goal of providing an impartial, evidence-based picture of global health trends to inform the work of policymakers, researchers, and funders. Main supporters are the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the state of Washington."
Edit: once I read the claim "That methodology looks extremely dodgy" or "doesn't make it right" (in the answer below) I'd expect some specific information which would support that claim. Especially when the same person writes "you" to the poster posting the link to the study of an independent institute residing at the University of Washington.
That really doesn't answer the question. That methodology looks extremely dodgy, and merely having funding from the Gates foundation doesn't make it right.
It's curve-fitting. By real epidemiologists. It's not just based on Wuhan, but based on knowledge of how things like this spread. Wuhan fit the model, so there's hope.
But it's just curve-fitting. And it depends on certain things, like people being smart. You get your parameters from what you observe.
They're getting flack from other epidemiologists for doing just that. Curve-fitting the AIDS epidemic suggested it would peter out in 1995.
We only have the same curves if we put in the same restrictions as Wuhan, or get R down as much. Yet we still have megachurches holding services.
And politicians are using these as worst-case scenarios already, which will make them complacent about the urgent need for more ventilators, masks and PPE supplies.
They answer all that in the paper. It's not predicting behavior of people- we can still do stupid things and make this a lot worse.
But if we behave and practice social distancing and don't do stupid things, this is the estimate we have today (or a couple of days ago) of the timeline.
If I were a leader of the United States, I would challenge the population to beat these numbers.
"The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME)" launched in 2007 "with the goal of providing an impartial, evidence-based picture of global health trends to inform the work of policymakers, researchers, and funders. Main supporters are the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the state of Washington."
Edit: once I read the claim "That methodology looks extremely dodgy" or "doesn't make it right" (in the answer below) I'd expect some specific information which would support that claim. Especially when the same person writes "you" to the poster posting the link to the study of an independent institute residing at the University of Washington.