The reasons behind the current undercount are due in part to the unintended consequences of good public health policies, like increased vaccinations and the availability of at-home tests, both of which lead to fewer cases being included in official CDC data.
As a point of comparison, during the Delta wave 43 out of 100 cases were recorded, and during the Omicron wave the figure was 26 out of 100 cases. Currently, for every 100 COVID-19 cases in the United States, only seven are being officially recorded, according to projections from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. "We are really flying blind," said epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina, assistant professor at the University of Texas School of Public Health and the author of the newsletter, Your Local Epidemiologist. Thanks to a variety of factors, case counts are now so inaccurate that a COVID surge could be missed entirely. But recently, that data has become even more imperfect, and less useful at determining individual risk. Though imperfect, it's been a pretty good way to assess risk levels: Follow the data. Major Undercount In COVID Cases Makes Our Tracking Data Less Useful For many, it's become routine to pull up a chart of COVID-19 case counts by state or county.
Nsikan Akpan, health and science editor at WNYC Radio based in New York City, talks with Ira about this new COVID test and other science news of the week, including new research on ocean warming and storm frequency, the story behind moon dust that sold for $500,000, and President Biden's decision to allow higher-ethanol gasoline sales this summer, which is usually banned from June to September. The testing unit is about the size of a piece of carry-on luggage and is intended to be used in medical offices and mobile testing sites. It's the first test that identifies chemical compounds of coronavirus in breath.
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