Study shows rate of infection 10 times higher than first estimated

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE)- A new study claims that the rate of coronavirus infections reported between March and may is actually 10 times higher than first estimated.

Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association- Internal Medicine, the study looked at antibody tests from 10 U.S. cities, including New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.

It found that many people were diagnosed because they never experienced symptoms and were never tested.

Leonard Mermel, the medical director of the Department of Epidemiology and Infection Control at Rhode Island Hospital, said he wasn’t surprised by the findings.

The study, Mermel said, confirms that the virus is still very much among us.

“This might be a wake-up call to some areas,” Mermel said. “We were telling the public everything was cool, but guess what? We have many more cases than we thought we had.”

The study also showed that asymptomatic individuals were still capable of spreading the virus.

Health experts continue to stress the importance of wearing masks, maintaining social distance, and staying home as much as possible.

“Someone saying this is a hoax needs to wake-up and smell the roses,” Mermel said. “It’s real, it’s here.”

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