NPR

Fauci Says U.S. Death Toll Is Likely Higher. Other COVID Stats Need Adjusting, Too

Researchers say the statistics issued about coronavirus cases and deaths do not necessarily reflect the full degree of the pandemic's impact.
A COVID-19 testing operation in Boyle Heights, California. Daily case counts may be on the low side since access to testing is limited in some parts of the world.

The U.S. has the most coronavirus deaths of any country in the world — on May 11, the death toll passed 80,000.

And that's likely an undercount.

"Almost certainly it's higher," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, at a virtual Senate hearing May 12. "There may have been people who died at home who were not counted as COVID because they never really got to the hospital."

It's not just the death toll that's likely higher. Medical statisticians say we have been undercounting cases since the pandemic started —

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