Coronavirus week 114: Are we undercounting?

So says a story from late last month in the Guardian. Based on the degree of case undercounting in New York City, it estimated that current nationwide undercounting may be 30-fold. Thirty-FOLD as in 3,000 percent, not 30 percent.

Why? Here's a suite of possible answers, from the story:

The huge disparity between estimated and official case counts is likely due to a rise in home testing, which is usually not included in official numbers, and pandemic fatigue or lack of information leading some people not to test at all, even if they have symptoms or exposure to the virus. 

There is also a “huge disincentive” for many people to get tested for Covid, said Lara Jirmanus, a family physician and clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School. Americans have been told the virus is mild and won’t affect their lives, she said, but if they test positive, they need to stay home from work and school.

“It’s almost as though we’ve created a national ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ Covid policy – and that is a perfect way to promise that Covid will spread rapidly,” she said – especially concerning given as much as 60% of Covid transmission happens from people who never have any symptoms.

So, not a one-cause reason, but a mix of reasons that are nonetheless largely interlocking.

Meanwhile, per Worldometers, even with undercounting, active cases are on the rise again. 

And, per William Hazeltine, we've been undercounting Long COVID as well, which apparently, at least with partial symptoms, hits 20 percent of COVID cases, not 10 percent.

And, I'm not a MAGAt or other wingnut, but do you notice Fauci's been pretty quiet recently?