Iran Press/ America: The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says the true number of cases is likely to be 10 times higher than the reported figure, as Reuters reported.
It comes as the state of Texas halted its reopening as infections and hospitalizations surged. The US has recorded 2.4m confirmed infections and 122,370 deaths.
Some southern and western states have been reporting record numbers of cases in recent days.
Citing studies using new blood samples collected nationwide, Redfield pinned the data discrepancy on the early handling of the outbreak. “In the beginning, there wasn’t a lot of testing that was done of younger, asymptomatic individuals,” he said on the call. “So I think it’s important for us to realize that we probably recognized about 10 percent of the outbreak by the methods that we used to diagnose between March, April, and May.”
The US struggled to roll out mass testing during the early stages of the outbreak, and even as the coronavirus spread with dramatic speed. It has since carried out more tests than any other country, but the numbers are uneven across the states and positive rates are still worryingly high in several parts of the country.
This includes several states where numbers of cases and hospitalizations are now rising. Arizona’s seven-day average of cases is surging dramatically, this week more than tripling its previous record number at the start of June.
Texas, meanwhile, has paused its reopening as cases hit all-time daily highs and hospital systems fear being overwhelmed as the 4 July weekend approaches.
Donald Trump said at his recent rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that he had asked his advisers to slow testing down for fear the rising number of cases would make the US look bad. Administration adviser Anthony Fauci firmly denied receiving any such instruction, but the President denied his remark was a joke.
The global death toll is 491,793 with 9,711,197 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization.
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