A coronavirus testing site Thursday in Tampa, Fla. States are adding new curbs and delaying business openings due to a recent surge of cases.
Photo: Octavio Jones/Getty ImagesMore than 20 million people in the U.S. may have contracted the coronavirus since the start of the outbreak, according to an internal government estimate, a figure that is significantly higher than official case counts and reflects the large number of individuals who have the disease but don’t exhibit symptoms.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate is based on serology testing conducted to determine the presence of antibodies that indicate a person has had the disease, senior administration officials said.
The figure is an estimate based on the number of officially confirmed cases—more than 2.3 million in the U.S.—and the average rate of antibodies seen in the serology tests.
Administration officials are increasingly concerned about the large number of asymptomatic Covid-19 cases among young people, many of whom may not know they have the disease and as a result could spread it to more at-risk individuals.
A senior administration official said virus surveillance and tracking is “fundamental to try to identify individuals that in fact are infected so we can try to break the chain of transmission and at least protect against the consequences.”
The 20 million estimate also suggests that the death rate from the virus is lower than previously understood. Nearly 122,000 people have died in the U.S. from Covid-19, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The recent surge of coronavirus cases in parts of the U.S. is prompting new restrictions and delaying businesses’ reopening plans.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order Thursday requiring all hospitals in four Texas counties that include cities such as Houston, Austin, Dallas and San Antonio to suspend elective procedures to increase hospital capacity for a growing number of coronavirus patients. The order will take effect late Friday evening.
Some cities and counties in Texas are requiring businesses to make their customers wear masks amid a surge in cases throughout the state. The move to put the burden on businesses is a loophole in rules imposed by Mr. Abbott, a Republican, who has explicitly banned local jurisdictions from forcing people to cover their faces.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state would put off reopenings of shopping malls, movie theaters and gyms—set for Friday in parts of the state—while the State Department of Health reviews more data about indoor viral transmission. The Democratic governor said Thursday the total number of coronavirus-related hospitalizations stood at 996, the first time the tally has dropped below 1,000 since mid-March and another sign of progress against the disease.
Mr. Cuomo, along with governors of New Jersey and Connecticut on Wednesday, ordered 14 days of self-quarantine for visitors from states with high rates of Covid-19 cases: Florida, Texas, Arizona and a handful of others across the South and Southwest.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said New York City was on track to enter its third phase of reopening July 6, when basketball courts, tennis courts and other sports and recreation can resume. About 2% of those tested for the coronavirus in the city tested positive, the Democratic mayor said.
“No one wants to go backwards,” Mr. de Blasio said. “Let’s stick to it.”
In Hawaii, Gov. David Ige said that beginning Aug. 1, travelers arriving in the state will need to present a negative coronavirus test to avoid a mandatory 14-day quarantine for out-of-state arrivals that is already in place in the state. The move came after the Department of Justice offered its support for a lawsuit filed by Nevada and California residents with property in Hawaii who challenged the state’s quarantine order.
Overall, the U.S. accounts for more than 2.38 million of the more than 9.45 million cases world-wide, according to Johns Hopkins data. The World Health Organization says it expects total global cases to pass 10 million next week.
Source: Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering
Source: Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering
Experts say that differences in reporting standards and testing capabilities might be masking the extent of the pandemic, though a Wall Street Journal analysis found that confirmed cases have increased at a faster rate nationwide for nearly two weeks. The number of new U.S. cases on Tuesday hit 34,720, the highest since late April.
U.S. stocks were down slightly Thursday as the rise in cases forced some businesses to re-examine their plans. Walt Disney Co. said it would indefinitely delay the reopening of its Disneyland Resort, previously scheduled for July 17.
“Given the time required for us to bring thousands of cast members back to work and restart our business, we have no choice but to delay the reopening of our theme parks and resort hotels until we receive approval from government officials,” the company said.
Disney also is considering postponing the July 24 release of “Mulan,” according to a person familiar with the matter, a rescheduling that could call into question hopes across Hollywood and the movie-theater industry that cinemas will be up and running next month.
Sources: Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering; the Lancet; Associated Press; U.S. Census
Economists say a surge of new infections could impede the job market’s slow recovery. The number of workers seeking jobless benefits has eased from a peak in March of nearly 7 million, but remained at a historically high 1.5 million, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
Macy’s Inc. on Thursday said it would cut roughly 3,900 corporate positions after profits disappeared while its stores were shuttered during lockdown. Barnes & Noble Inc. also laid off employees from its head office in New York.
India logged another record day Thursday, with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare reporting nearly 17,000 confirmed cases in the preceding 24 hours. That raised total cases to 473,105, closing in on the total in Russia, the third-worst-hit country. The surge in cases is overwhelming the health-care system in the country’s capital, the world’s second-most-populous city. India’s deaths number 14,894.
Iran passed 10,000 deaths from Covid-19 Thursday as the daily death toll continued to climb after lockdown restrictions were eased. The health ministry reported 134 new fatalities and 2,595 new infections, and warned that hospitalizations were accelerating in Tehran and the southwestern province of Fars.
South Korea reported 28 new cases, bringing the total to 12,563. Most of the locally transmitted cases were reported in metropolitan Seoul, as cluster infections linked to logistic centers and door-to-door retailers continue.
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Health authorities in Australia’s Victoria state will begin knocking on doors in 10 coronavirus hot spots in suburban Melbourne, offering free testing to everyone—symptomatic or not—in an effort to get the virus under control in the country’s second-most-populous city.
“Disappointingly, devastatingly—we again find ourselves on a knife’s edge,” said Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews. “We don’t want to move to local lockdowns. We know the impact that would have on businesses and on families. But we do need to get a comprehensive sense of how this virus might be spreading.”
Write to David Hall at david.hall@wsj.com
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