The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates about 35% of all Americans have been infected with COVID-19 over the last year.
From February 2020 to March 2021, the CDC estimates 114.6 million Americans were infected with COVID-19, 97.1 million had symptomatic illnesses and 5.6 million were hospitalized with COVID-19.
TheCDC numberswere updated Thursday as part of the agency’s “estimated disease burden,” in which the agency provides estimates of infections, symptomatic illnesses and hospitalizations using statistical modeling to account for cases that current “networks are unable to capture.”
Some of the discrepancy in the number of cases could be because some people have no symptoms when they are infected and do not get tested, the CDC says, or because even if someone does have symptoms, they may not seek medical care or a test to confirm their COVID-19 status.
The U.S. Census Bureau announced the total population of this country in April 2020 was just over 331 million.
That means the number the CDC estimates were infected with COVID-19 is 35% of the total U.S. population, or a little more than 1 in 3 people, and about 1.7% of the population has been hospitalized because of the virus.
Of those infected, the CDC estimates nearly 50% are between the ages of 18 and 49, and 23% are 17 or younger. When it comes to hospitalizations, 47% are estimated to be 65 and older and only 4% are 17 or younger.