US becomes first country in world to ‘officially’ hit 100 million Covid cases

America has become the first country to officially hit the milestone of 100 million Covid infections – in what is likely a vast underestimate.

The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows cumulative US cases hit nine figures on December 21.

India has the second highest number of infections with just 44 million, according to research database OurWorldInData, followed by France with 39 million.

But the raw number of cases does not take into account the size of the population. When this is taken into account, the United States only ranks 58th in the world.

But the raw number of cases does not take into account the size of the population. When this is taken into account, the United States only ranks 58th in the world

Comparing Covid cases between countries is difficult due to different testing and data collection approaches.

Only China has carried out more tests than the United States – around 9 billion and 900 million, respectively.

But Beijing and places like Russia have been accused of suppressing case numbers to hide the fact that authoritarian regimes have struggled to contain outbreaks.

Dr. John Brownstein, epidemiologist and director of innovation at Boston Children’s Hospital, said the fact that the United States reached 100 million cases was a significant moment.

But he added that it was likely a serious undercount due to the large number of Americans who are not testing or who are asymptomatic.

Dr Brownstein told ABC: “Obviously this is a significant milestone which signifies the amount of transmission that has occurred around this virus and the population burden that we have faced.”

“At the same time, we recognize that reported cases are absolutely a massive undercount – from the start of the pandemic where testing was non-existent until the shift to home testing where a significant proportion of cases went unreported. .

“I think we know that a large majority of the population has already been infected with COVID,” Brownstein said. “And so that number is only a fraction of all the cases. [The milestone] was most likely affected several months ago.

The official US case number of 100.7 million indicates that about one in three Americans have had the virus at least once.

Yet a CDC study from April 2022 estimated that 60% of the country had been infected with the virus. The official case tally does not distinguish between repeat infections.

The 100 million case mark comes as pandemic politics begin to creep back into everyday life in America.

Hundreds of thousands of students across the United States will be forced to wear them to class when schools reopen today as controversial mandates return.

Cumulative Covid cases in the United States reached 100 million on December 21 – making America the first country to exceed nine figures

The raw number does not take population size into account and is riddled with caveats – such as the United States carrying out far more testing than most countries in the world. Here, the graph shows how the United States has brought its epidemic under control

Although Covid infection rates have plateaued for months, elementary and secondary schools in New Jersey, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania have made face coverings a requirement of entry for students returning from vacation.

Education officials say the policy is to prevent a boom in respiratory disease after increased mixing during the first normal Christmas and New Year in years.

But there’s little evidence that face masks actually reduce infection rates, and a growing body of research shows mandates have stunted children’s social development and education, and robbed them of the vital immunity against other seasonal insects like influenza and RSV.

The government also announced last week that all passengers arriving from China would be tested on entry, despite no evidence the policy is working either.