The U.S. probably has about 200,000 coronavirus cases per day, Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Brett Giroir said, acknowledging the number of infections is likely far higher than what is reported.
Asked during a Fox News interview on Thursday whether the U.S. could contain the outbreak through testing and contact tracing, Giroir said the virus is too widespread for those steps alone.
“It is really impossible to track and trace 67,000 new cases a day, which probably means we have about 200,000 cases a day that are actually there,” Giroir said. “We have to do our mitigation steps. Like I told you before, wear a mask, avoid crowds.”
Giroir, who served as the U.S. Covid-19 testing czar, said those methods have helped in “turning the tide” in most southern and western states that had seen a spike in infections. He added, however, that reports of hospitalizations and deaths will not go down “for a couple of weeks” because they are lagging indicators.
The U.S. reported 71,695 new cases on Wednesday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released data on Tuesday showing that the number of people who have been infected with coronavirus far exceeds reported cases. But Giroir’s comments offer one of the most specific estimates yet from a top Trump administration health official about the extent of the outbreak, which has left more than 143,000 people dead in the U.S.
The CDC conducted a survey that examined antibodies in ten regions across the country. While the prevalence of the virus varied across those region, evidence of infections was found in many more people than have been reported. In the New York City area, the number of people infected is likely 12 times higher than public data.
This story provided by Bloomberg News.