Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, estimated Thursday that the number of COVID-19 cases in the country may be 10 times greater than reported, meaning the actual amount of cases can exceed 20 million.
“Our best estimate at the moment is that for every reported case, there are actually 10 other infections,” Redfield told reporters in a call Thursday, according to NBC News.
Redfield also noted how the new coronavirus “causes so much asymptomatic infection.”
“The traditional approach of looking for symptomatic diseases and diagnosing them obviously underestimates the total number of infections,” said Redfield.
During the call, Redfield said the new evaluation came from reviewing blood samples across the country to look for the presence of antibodies against the new coronavirus. Redfield explained that for every confirmed case of COVID-19, 10 more people had antibodies, indicating whether an individual’s immune system has already fought off the coronavirus.
In addition, the blood samples also came from donated blood tests in blood banks or from other laboratory tests.
Redfield’s comments occur amid spikes in the COVID-19 cases in several states. The CDC currently reports that there are 2.3 million cases in the country. Now, the CDC estimates that the actual number of coronavirus cases totals at least 23 million.
Texas, Florida, and Arizona have emerged as coronavirus hot spots as cases increased following the loosening of COVID-19-related restrictions.
On Thursday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) announced that the state will pause more reopening phases in light of the COVID-19 cases and the increase in hospitalizations. Abbott made his announcement a day after he warned that Texas was facing a “massive” outbreak of COVID-19, as new coronavirus cases exceeded 5,000 and more than 4,000 hospitalizations.
On Tuesday, Arizona set new records by reporting more than 3,500 new coronavirus cases and 42 deaths.
Florida also hit a new daily new case record on Wednesday by reporting more than 5,500 new cases, beating its previous record set over the weekend.
