A woman has her temperature taken before entering Prairie Meadows Casino in Iowa (Charlie Neibergall/AP)Officials estimate that 20 million Americans have been infected with the coronavirus since it first arrived in the United States. The figure, from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is roughly 10 times the number of confirmed cases which is 2.3 million. Officials have long known that millions of people were infected without knowing it and that many cases are being missed because of gaps in testing. If accurate, the 20 million figure would mean that about 6% of the US population have been infected. US president Donald Trump, who refuses to wear a face mask in public, has tried to play down the risk.

Source: Irish Independent June 26, 2020 06:45 UTC