23 MILLION AMERICANS

Coronavirus Infections Are Probably 10 Times Higher Than Current Count: CDC

Blood sample studies have shown that for every one confirmed case of COVID-19, antibodies have been found in 10 more samples.

Coronavirus cases in the United States may actually be 10 times higher than the current estimate, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At least 23 million people may have been infected with COVID-19, rather than the 2.3 million figure that current confirmed numbers show. “Our best estimate right now is that for every case that’s reported, there actually are 10 other infections,” CDC director Robert Redfield said Thursday. The new estimate, gathered by examining blood samples for coronavirus antibodies, show that for every single confirmed case, about 10 others have the antibodies. “This virus causes so much asymptomatic infection,” Redfield said. “The traditional approach of looking for symptomatic illness and diagnosing it obviously underestimates the total amount of infections.”