The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the number of coronavirus infections in the United States could be 10 times higher than reported, totaling over 20 million cases.
“Our best estimate right now is for every case reported, there were actually 10 other infections,” CDC Director Robert Redfield told reporters Thursday.
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Redfield said the estimates came from infection surveillance and serology testing, which looks for the presence of antibodies in the blood to show if the person has been exposed to the virus. The CDC focused its early efforts on testing people who were showing symptoms of the coronavirus infection, avoiding those who were asymptomatic and unknowingly transmitting the virus.
“It causes significant asymptomatic infection,” Redfield said. “That’s the traditional approach of looking for symptomatic illness and diagnosing it obviously underestimated the total amount of infections.”
The estimate comes as a rising number of younger asymptomatic people are testing positive for the virus, fueling a spike in cases nationwide. Redfield urged people under 50 to socially distance from more vulnerable populations, such as the elderly and people with underlying health conditions.
If the true case count is as high as Redfield said, that would mean the mortality rate is much lower than reported. Over 122,200 people in the U.S. have died due to COVID-19. The U.S reported a record high daily case jump Wednesday of 39,000. Nine states — California, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and South Carolina — reported new records for a seven-day rolling average of cases Wednesday.
