Nature Communications (Sep 2020)

Substantial underestimation of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the United States

  • Sean L. Wu,
  • Andrew N. Mertens,
  • Yoshika S. Crider,
  • Anna Nguyen,
  • Nolan N. Pokpongkiat,
  • Stephanie Djajadi,
  • Anmol Seth,
  • Michelle S. Hsiang,
  • John M. Colford,
  • Art Reingold,
  • Benjamin F. Arnold,
  • Alan Hubbard,
  • Jade Benjamin-Chung

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18272-4
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 1 – 10

Abstract

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Estimating the extent of SARS-CoV-2 infection in a population is challenging due to the limitations of testing. Here, the authors estimate that the true number of infections in the United States in mid-April was up to 20 times higher than the number of confirmed cases.