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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Melody Schreiber

‘We’re playing with fire’: US COVID cases may be 30 times higher than reported

Denis Nash Pfizer Public Health
person leans head back at covid testing station
A person receives a Covid-19 test swab on the street in New York on 26 May 2022. Photograph: Justin Lane/EPA

The United States is now in its fourth-biggest Covid surge, according to official case counts – but experts believe the actual current rate is much higher.

America is averaging about 94,000 new cases every day, and hospitalizations have been ticking upward since April, though they remain much lower than previous peaks.

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