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- “I think we’re vastly underestimating the level of delta spread right now, because I think people who are vaccinated who might develop some mild symptoms, or might develop a breakthrough case, by and large aren’t going out and getting tested,” Gottlieb said.
- The former FDA commissioner said younger people who are more likely to become infected are unlikely to get tested because they’re healthy or have been vaccinated.
- Cases, hospitalizations and deaths are on the rise.
Former head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Scott Gottlieb says he believes the number of new infections of the highly contagious delta variant were being undercounted in the U.S.
“We don’t know what the denominator is right now,” Gottlieb told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Friday.
“I think we’re vastly underestimating the level of delta spread right now, because I think people who are vaccinated who might develop some mild symptoms, or might develop a breakthrough case, by and large aren’t going out and getting tested. If you’ve been vaccinated and you develop a mild cold right now, you don’t think you have Covid,” Gottlieb said.
The former FDA commissioner said younger people who are more likely to become infected are unlikely to get tested because they’re healthy or have been vaccinated.
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“We’re not doing a lot of routine screening, unless you play for the New York Yankees, so I think we’re not picking up a lot of infection,” he said.
The number of new cases and deaths are on the rise as the delta variant circulates across unvaccinated pockets of the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky on Friday said the seven-day average for daily deaths increased by 26 percent to 211 per day, while the seven-day average of new cases rose to more than 26,300 cases. That’s an increase of about 70 percent from the week prior. Hospitalizations are also up about 36 percent from last week after weeks of decline.
Gottlieb told CNBC earlier this week the surge associated with delta will peak sometime around the end of September. He said, however, that it might be the last significant wave as more of the population build immunity.
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