Bay Area Case Count In April Could Be 9x Higher Than Reported

BAY AREA, CA — The number of actual Bay Area COVID-19 cases may have been at least nine times higher than the reported case count in April, according to a newly released U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.

The report analyzed 1,200 blood samples collected from patients who went to the doctor for a routine visit or other reason not related to COVID-19 from April 23 to 27. Samples from all Bay Area counties except for Solano, Sonoma and Napa were included in the study.

One percent of Bay Area residents tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies, the CDC found. That indicates there were an estimated 65,000 cases in the region — far higher than the 7,151 cases reported as of April 27, according to the CDC.

Samples taken from people 18 years old and younger were more likely to have antibodies than other age groups (1.7 percent), including the 19 to 49 category (1.1 percent), 50 to 64 category (.7 percent) and 65 and older category (.9 percent).

The Bay Area was one of 10 areas the CDC surveyed and had the lowest rate of people with COVID-19 antibodies.

For comparison, about 7 percent of New York City, 5 percent of Connecticut and 6 percent of Louisiana samples tested around that same time indicated people surveyed had antibodies.

Areas with lower antibody counts included the western Washington State region (1.1 percent) and south Florida (1.9 percent).

The CDC said it plans to track changes in antibody statistics over time and expand to survey other areas. More recent data has been released for eight of the 10 regions surveyed, though the latest numbers are not yet in for the Bay Area.

Read the full report here.