The novel coronavirus has spread more in the United States of America than its official confirmed cases, says a new report by the University of Texas' disease modelers.

The modeling, primarily reported by The New York Times, suggests that 72 percent of 3,142 U.S. counties have a high possibility of COVID-19 epidemics even if confirmed cases do not reveal it yet. This number equates to 94 percent of the population of the country, says an article.

US Citizens Testing Positive for COVID-19

More than 360,000 people across the United States, including Washington, DC, and four territories have tested positive for COVID-19. However, due to the limited volume of test kits, experts believe that 25 percent  to 50 percent of infected individuals showing no symptoms of the illness may actually be spreading the deadly disease. It means that the official confirmed COVID-19 cases might be an understatement of the outbreak.

Repurposing a Tool Used for Analyzing the Zika Virus

To get the estimates, the researchers repurposed a tool they used to analyze the Zika virus, also a silent spreader like the SARS-CoV-2. They used the tools framework to calculate the risk of COVID-19's widespread and undetected community transmission in every county of the U.S. They based the total cases of the deadly illness on every county as of April 2.

According to the report, there is a 9 percent chance that counties with no COVID-19 cases have an undetected outbreak of the illness. However, a single detected COVID-19 case increases that risk to 51 percent.

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Do Not Wait for the Spike

There is still no announcement of a national lockdown in the United States, even though many states in the country have already implemented stay-at-home orders. Also, many local officials in the country are still waiting for a spike of confirmed COVID-19 cases in their area before requiring residents to follow stricter limitations.

According to Wyoming Senator John Barrasso, the state does not need a lockdown since people are spread out and there are only five residents per square mile in the entire region.

According to a report, low population density can help delay the spread of illness. However, COVID-19 has already spread in many rural areas in the country, the statement added. According to the estimates made by the report, regions should use preventive measures to slow down the spread of COVID-19 in many communities.

Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, was reported to have been criticized for opening beaches for spring breakers. Last week, he implemented a stay-at-home order for the entire state. Restrictions were implemented in southwest Florida counties where confirmed cases of COVID-19 are concentrated.

According to the University of Texas professor of statistics and biology, Lauren Ancel Meyers, it is worrisome to observe that a lot of local authorities are waiting for clear evidence of local transmission before taking any actions. She believes that states or counties should not wait for these spikes to happen prior to taking any preventive measures against COVID-19.