The United States has now surpassed 10 million cases of COVID-19.
Johns Hopkins University reported 10,018,278 cases of the novel coronavirus in the U.S. as of Monday. The country has also witnessed more than 237,000 COVID-19-related deaths.
On Saturday, nearly 127,000 coronavirus cases were reported. The caseload marked the fourth day last week that new cases reached more than 100,000 and the third day in a row that topped 120,000.
On Friday, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, said the country is experiencing around half a million cases per day, significantly more than the actual number of diagnosed cases.
“Remember, 120,000 cases aren’t 120,000 cases. We’re probably, at best, diagnosing 1 in 5 cases right now, maybe a little bit less than that, so this is at least half a million cases a day, probably more in terms of actual numbers of infection,” Gottlieb told CNBC.
His comments came as record hospitalizations occur in a number of states in the Midwest and the West.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force and a leading national expert in infectious diseases, previously warned that the flu season mixed with the coronavirus pandemic could lead to a dire situation in the U.S. Fauci has pressed that the daily cases need to drop below 10,000 by the fall to start getting the virus under control.
“If we don’t get them down, then we’re going to have a really bad situation in the fall,” Fauci said in August.
On Saturday, thousands crowded in close proximity around the country, holding large gatherings in the wake of an announced victory for presumptive President-elect Joe Biden.
Fox News’s Alex Hogan reported on Sunday that in New York, many people celebrating were wearing masks, but long lines have formed outside of testing centers over the weekend due to the large crowds that met the day before.
Medical experts still recommend masking and social distancing as the best way to try to prevent the spread of the virus.
