NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- The actual number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. could be 10 times higher than the reported number, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.
As of Thursday afternoon, more than 2.3 million people in the U.S. had tested positive for COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins University's coronavirus dashboard.
During a conference call with reporters on Thursday, however, CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield said the center's "best estimate right now is that for every case that's reported, there are actually 10 other infections," NBC News reported.
By that estimate, at least 23 million people in the U.S. could have tested positive for COVID-19 so far.
The novel coronavirus "causes so much asymptomatic infection," Redfield noted.
"The traditional approach of looking for symptomatic illness and diagnosing it obviously underestimates the total amount of infections," he said.
