CDC: Coronavirus cases could be 10x higher than reported
Photo | Courtesy | Family Health Center of Worcester
A Family Health Center of Worcester worker in a coronavirus screening tent
Cases of coronavirus in the United States could be six to 24 times higher than reported figures officially show, according to a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study published Tuesday.
The study, published by JAMA Internal Medicine, is based on more than 16,000 antibody tests at 10 sites across the country, which indicated how many people in those areas currently or previously had the virus. For most sites, it is likely greater than 10 times more infections occurred than the number reported, the study said.
The report is the latest to indicate official coronavirus numbers in the U.S. — more than 3.8 million through Tuesday, with nearly 141,000 deaths, according to the CDC — don't fully capture the widespread nature of the virus.
"Our results for each site suggest that the number of infections was much greater than the number of reported cases throughout the study period," the study said. Those infections, the authors said, likely include asymptomatic or mild infections for which health care was not sought or viral testing was not performed.
The antibody tests were conducted from late March to mid-May, including, in Connecticut in late April to early May. Antibodies ranged from 1.0% in the San Francisco Bay area to 6.9% in New York City. In Connecticut, 4.9% of participants tested positive for antibodies. Samples were tested for those who underwent blood tests for reasons unrelated to the virus.
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