US Testing Woes Suggest a Larger COVID-19 Outbreak than Advertised

Pennsylvania Commonwealth microbiologist Kerry Pollard performs a manual extraction of the coronavirus inside the extraction lab at the Pennsylvania Department of Health Bureau of Laboratories on Friday, March 6, 2020. / cc Governor Tom Wolf, Flickr, modified, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Summary

According to data compiled by John Hopkins University, the United States currently has 761 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with Washington (167), California (143), and New York (148) reporting the highest numbers.

This national case load is conspicuously low compared to other global hotspots like Italy (9,172) and South Korea (7,513), along with lesser outbreaks in Germany (1,281), France (1,412), and Spain (1,646).

Why are the official US numbers so low? Simple: there aren’t enough tests being carried out. So if there is in fact a “bomb” lying in wait for hospitals and healthcare workers, it’s one that is currently counting down outside of the notice of most federal and state authorities.

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