MORE than 53 million people had coronavirus in the US by September but the vast majority of cases weren’t reported, according to CDC data.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that almost eight coronavirus infections were missed for every one case caught.
That 53 million figure is just under eight times the confirmed cases reported at the time, reports said.
The CDC had previously estimated that one of every 10 infections were being missed.
The more recent calculation is supposed to paint a more accurate picture of how many people actually contracted the deadly virus since the pandemic pummeled the USA.
Of the 53 million estimated infections, around 45 million were sick at some point and about 2.4 million were hospitalized, according to the agency.
On November 24, the CDC reported 12,498,734 cases of the new coronavirus – an uptick of 165,282 from its previous count.
Reuters reported that the number of deaths had risen by 1,989 to 259,005.
This was the CDC tally as of 4 pm ET on November 24 versus its previous report a day earlier.
The news comes as America has suffered its deadliest day since May with more than 2,100 daily coronavirus deaths as fears of a Thanksgiving “timebomb” spiral.
Across the US, hospitals have been overwhelmed with Covid patients – with at least one medical center turning a parking lot into treatment areas.
The death toll reached 2,157 on Tuesday – one person every 40 seconds – with another 170,000 people infected.
Experts worry those numbers could explode with more than six million Americans disregarding official warnings and traveling for Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday.
Officials have pleaded with families to keep holiday gatherings small as the contagion escalates around the country.
The deadliest day in more than six months was still short of the record of 2,806 deaths on April 14, in the early stages of the pandemic, according to a Reuters tally of official data.
That one-day figure is sometimes reported higher due to a backlog of deaths that were not compiled until April 14.
With US hospitalizations for COVID-19 reaching a record high of 87,000 on Tuesday, the nation’s leading infectious diseases official urged people to keep Thanksgiving gatherings as small as possible.
Dr Anthony Fauci stressed the need to “hang in there a bit longer” on wearing masks, maintaining distance and avoiding crowds, especially indoors.
“If we do those things, we’re going to get through it. So that’s my final plea before the holiday,” Fauci told the ABC News program “Good Morning America” on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, shock pics showed how bodies in bags marked “Covid” were stacked in refrigerated trucks this week.
Mobile morgues were seen at the El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office on Monday as the number of cases across the country totaled more than 12 million.
Staffers at the medical examiner’s office were photographed moving bodies in bags labeled “Covid” – in what appears to be written in marker.
The body bags were set to be moved from the refrigerated trailers to the morgue office.
The photos have been likened to earlier this year, when hundreds of bodies were seen in freezer trucks in Brooklyn, New York.
The CDC announced on Tuesday it is planning the period for which Americans are told to quarantine after being exposed to coronavirus.
Officials are reportedly set to publish new guidelines lowering the recommended period from 14 days to between seven and ten days.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Dr Henry Walke, the CDC’s incident manager for Covid-19 response, said research suggested the change could be introduced safely.
“We do think that the work that we’ve done, and some of the studies we have and the modeling data that we have, shows that we can – with testing – shorten quarantines,” he said.
He added that, if a person’s swab test is negative, then “their probability of going on and developing an infection after that is pretty low”.
Help may also be coming with vaccines showing promise.
Officials from the U. government’s Operation Warp Speed program told reporters on Tuesday they plan to release 6.4 million COVID-19 vaccine doses nationwide in an initial distribution after the first one is cleared by regulators for emergency use, which could happen as soon as Dec. 10.
If all goes well, 40 million doses will be distributed by the end of the year, they said.
A Food and Drug Administration ruling on emergency use for Pfizer Inc’s vaccine is expected on Dec. 10.
Moderna also said its two-dose jab was 94.5 percent successful at fighting the deadly virus in infected volunteer – and Fauci said it may be rolled out as soon as December.
Both Pfizer and Moderna’s company bosses plan to submit the vaccine to the regulators in the US for emergency use approval “within days” before sharing with others around the word.
Pfizer chairman, Dr Albert Bourla said, “The study results mark an important step in this historic eight-month journey to bring forward a vaccine capable of helping to end this devastating pandemic.
“We continue to move at the speed of science to compile all the data collected thus far and share with regulators around the world.”
President-elect Joe Biden has promised to make fighting the pandemic his top priority upon taking office on Jan. 20 and will give a speech on the topic on Wednesday.
Fauci said on C-SPAN on Wednesday he had been in contact with Biden’s staff and was willing to serve on any task force.
Outgoing President Donald Trump has remained largely silent on the subject, making a one-minute appearance in the White House briefing room on Tuesday to talk about the stock market.
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