FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports the number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. is likely ten times the number of confirmed cases. So, rather than 2.3 million, they’re saying actual case numbers are closer to 20 million.
That leaves 90 percent of the population susceptible to the virus.
Fort Myers lifestyle blogger Mary Katherine Backstrom said that's all the more reason for people to continue to follow CDC guidelines faithfully.
She went from running a few times a week to not running at all and taking a trip to the hospital for dangerous COVID-19 symptoms in May.
“It’s an unpredictable virus. You don’t know how your body is going to respond,” she said.
She’s back to her bubbly self these, posting again. She told Fox 4 Friday she and her spouse had the virus at the same times, leaving her to battle the virus for 16 days.
“We never imagined that my husband or myself would be as sick as we were,” she said.
CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield shared in a briefing Thursday there’s likely more COVID-19 cases in the U.S. than reported.
“Our best estimate right now is that for every case that was recorded, there actually are ten other infections,” said Redfield
He also mentioned the unreported cases among children that weren’t getting tested early on in the pandemic. Not shocking to Backstrom since doctors told her that her children presumably had the virus, too.
“You can tell you in our house for sure, we had two positive cases, and then probably two more that were never documented,” said Backstrom.
Southwest Florida counties have not required mask use in public. But, epidemiologist James Koopman says that’s a mistake.
“We need everybody out there to be wearing a mask in order to stop this big rise,” he said.
Fort Myers Councilman Kevin Anderson who’s also recovered from the virus says the city shouldn’t because of the complications with enforcing it. But they can recommend it.
“The answer is to encourage people to be responsible. Wear a mask when you’re out and about. Use the hand sanitizer, wash your hands frequently. Wipe things down,” said Anderson.
Fort Myers Councilman Johnny Streets is pushing for the city to encourage everyone to wear a mask in public.
Lee County Commissioners say as of now there’s no plan to mandate them in the county.
