Washington, Dec 26 (IANS): A key Covid-19 model has projected that some 567,000 people could die due to the novel coronavirus across the US by April 1, 2021.

According to the latest projections from the model run by the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) issued on Friday, by April 1, 2021, 33,200 lives will be saved in the country by the projected vaccine rollout while if rapid rollout of vaccine is achieved, 45,000 lives will be saved compared to a no-vaccine scenario, reports Xinhua news agency.

Also, under its mandates easing scenario, the model projected 731,000 cumulative deaths on April 1, 2021.

"Daily deaths are expected to rise into mid-January and then begin declining if state governments impose mandates on gatherings, bar and restaurant openings, and other major locations for transmission," the IHME said.

"Daily deaths in the absence of concerted government action can reach over 5,000 by mid-February," it added.

In its latest update on Saturday morning, the Johns Hopkins University revealed that the country's overall caseload and death toll stood at 18,756,230 and 330,244, respectively.

The US is currently the hardest-hit country by the pandemic as the two tallies account for the highest in the world.