Thread by @DrDenaGrayson

🚨BREAKING: 2.5-4.2% of 3,300 people in Santa Clara County #CA tested positive for #coronavirus antibodies.

Researchers believe that 48,000-81,000 residents had #COVID19, **50- to 80-fold more** than the ~1,000 in the official tally.

@Almondrobopanda
abcnews.go.com/Health/antibod…

🔥“Our findings suggest that there is somewhere between **50- and 80-fold more (#coronavirus) infections** in our county than what’s known by the number of cases...reported by our department of public health," Dr. Eran Bendavid (@StanfordMed).

#WhereAreTheTests #COVID19

Dr. John Brownstein (@Harvard epidemiologist) says this confirms "what we've expected...a MUCH LARGER number of cases than we ever anticipated."

"There has been wide recognition that we were undercounting infections because of *lack of testing* or patients were asymptomatic."💥

Despite vast undercounting, ~95% in the county have NO #coronavirus antibodies. If we want to reopen, "knowing that well upwards of 90% of the population doesn't have antibodies is going to make that a very difficult choice."

And we still don't have enough #coronavirus tests.🤬

The US has ~690,000 confirmed #coronavirus cases, representing ~0.2% of the population.

Even if the #CA data translate to the entire US (they don't) with *actual* cases undercounted by 50- to 80-fold, only 10-16% of the population would have #antibodies.

Herd immunity: >70-80%.

Key to reopening: MASSIVE testing program for #coronavirus itself (not #antibodies) involving convenient, FREQUENT testing and re-testing, especially people with high-frequency contact with the public.

WHERE. ARE. THE. TESTS⁉️

#WhereAreTheTests #COVID19 #coronavirus