The United States has reached 100 million COVID-19 infections — the highest official total of any country and a major underestimation of the genuine amount.
The majority of the underestimation is due to fast, at-home COVID-19 tests, the results of which are not routinely reported to health agencies. However, asymptomatic infections that did not elicit testing, a lack of access to testing, and persons opting not to test have all likely contributed to missed instances.
Beth Blauer of the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center stated in a blog post, “We reached 100 million instances long ago. We are lacking a great deal more.”
As per US News, the 100 million figures would indicate that less than one-third of the U.S. population has been infected with COVID-19. However, according to research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the vast majority of Americans have contracted the virus.
According to CDC estimates, by February, over 57% of Americans have antibodies from a previous coronavirus infection; this statistic does not include those who may have antibodies from the vaccine or reinfections. That is equivalent to approximately 188 million Americans. Since February, the CDC has observed an increase of over 20 million illnesses, bringing the total to over 200 million.
COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths are increasing in the United States, likely because to the extremely contagious XBB omicron subvariant. According to the CDC, the majority of the United States is seeing high levels of coronavirus transmission, and more illnesses are anticipated following Christmas festivities.
As a method to battle a potential winter surge of coronavirus in the United States, the Biden administration has promoted revised COVID-19 booster doses that target omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, along with the original coronavirus strain. Less than 15% of eligible Americans have received the vaccine, which is below what researchers had hoped for.
