Estimated Disease Burden of COVID-19
To better reflect the burden of COVID-19 – the full impact of the disease — CDC provides estimates of COVID-19 infections, symptomatic illnesses, and hospitalizations using a statistical model to adjust for cases that national surveillance networks are unable to capture for a number of reasons. These estimates and the methodology used to calculate them are published in Clinical Infectious Diseases and available onlineexternal icon. These estimates will be updated periodically.
Estimated COVID-19 Infections, Symptomatic Illnesses, and Hospitalizations—United States
CDC estimates that from February–September 2020:
These estimates suggest that during that period, there were approximately:
53 Million
Estimated Total Infections
45 Million
Estimated Symptomatic Illnesses
2.4 Million
Estimated Hospitalizations
Last Updated: November 25, 2020
Table 1: Preliminary Estimated COVID-19 Cumulative Incidence, by age group — United States, February- September 2020
Infections | Symptomatic Illness | Hospitalizations | ||||
Age group | Estimate | 95% UI* | Estimate | 95% UI* | Estimate | 95% UI* |
0-4 yrs | 1,342,212 | 1,022,465 –
1,811,583 |
1,144,532 | 903,194 –
1,500,315 |
20,719 | 16,595 –
26,069 |
5-17 yrs | 5,538,766 | 4,222,053 –
7,451,900 |
4,719,785 | 3,722,649 –
6,177,733 |
44,321 | 33,300 –
58,552 |
18-49 yrs | 29,421,48 | 21,798,393 –
41,330,693 |
25,096,725 | 19,137,381 –
34,524,124 |
652,741 | 530,955 –
823,453 |
50-64 yrs | 10,484,802 | 7,860,849 –
14,346,364 |
8,926,318 | 6,873,250 –
11,928,318 |
642,358 | 538,092 –
778,266 |
65+ yrs | 5,636,607 | 4,139,528 –
8,024,420 |
4,556,384 | 3,569,223 –
6,172,269 |
1,022,295 | 826,438 –
1,361,730 |
All ages | 52,885,526 | 42,527,569 –
66,810,205 |
44,769,417 | 36,920,353 –
55,535,659 |
2,397,777 | 2,053,156 –
2,855,843 |
* Adjusted estimates and rates are presented in two parts: an uncertainty interval [UI] and a point estimate. The uncertainty interval provides a range in which the true number or rate of COVID-19 hospitalization would be expected to fall if the same study was repeated many times, and it gives an idea of the precision of the point estimate. A 95% uncertainty interval means that if the study were repeated 100 times, then 95 out of 100 times the uncertainty interval would contain the true point estimate. Conversely, in only 5 times out of a 100 would the uncertainty interval not contain the true point estimate.
Table 2: Estimated rates of COVID-19 disease outcomes, per 100,000, by age group — United States, February- September 2020
Infection rate per 100,000 | Symptomatic Illness rate per 100,000 | Hospitalization rate per 100,000 | ||||
Age group | Estimate | 95% UI* | Estimate | 95% UI* | Estimate | 95% UI* |
0-4 yrs | 6,775 | 5,161 –
9,145 |
5,777 | 4,559 –
7,573 |
105 | 84 –
132 |
5-17 yrs | 10,336 | 7,879 –
13,906 |
8,807 | 6,947 –
11,528 |
83 | 62 –
109 |
18-49 yrs | 21,292 | 15,775 –
29,911 |
18,162 | 13,850 –
24,985 |
472 | 384 –
596 |
50-64 yrs | 16,601 | 12,446 –
22,715 |
14,133 | 10,883 –
18,887 |
1,017 | 852 –
1,232 |
65+ yrs | 10,750 | 7,895 –
15,305 |
8,690 | 6,807 –
11,772 |
1,950 | 1,576 –
2,597 |
All ages | 16,165 | 12,999 –
20,421 |
13,684 | 11,285 –
16,975 |
733 | 628 –
873 |