Nearly 10% of the U.S. populations believes they may have contracted COVID-19 over the past 30 days, according to a study released by WebMD. However, only 7% were tested to determine if they were infected ”“ and two-thirds of those who were tested were positive for the virus.
For those who believed they had the virus, nearly two-thirds described the symptoms as mild, with one-third describing their symptoms as moderate and 6% as severe. Those who claimed to have symptoms cited cough, loss of sense of smell or taste, body aches, diarrhea, headache, sore throat and fatigue as their most common ailments.
WebMD added that a “significant percentage reported shortness of breath and fever,” although it did provide a specific figure.
For those who were not tested, 39% said they did not meet the testing criteria, 28% felt they did not need a test and 25% said that testing wasn’t available in their area. An additional 16% admitted concerns over going to a clinic as a reason they avoided testing.
The percentage who suspected they had COVID-19 in the past 30 days was higher in the metro New York City area, the nation”™s epicenter: WebMD reported 26% of metro New York City area residents are positive for COVID-19 while early antibody testing found an infection rate of 21.2% in the city. New York has the largest number of cases in the U.S.
The poll was conducted from more than 6,300 online responses between April 20-21.
