Coronavirus (COVID-19) case numbers in the U.S. 2020

As of April 16, 2020, there were 632,548 total cases of the COVID-19 disease in the United States, with 611,006 of these cases still under investigation.

The first cases in the United States

The COVID-19 disease has been reported in approximately 215 countries and territories worldwide. In the United States, the first cases were detected in travelers to the country; person-to-person spread was subsequently reported among close contacts of returned travelers. Cases of community transmission soon followed, meaning the virus was spreading, but it was not known how or where patients became exposed. Widespread testing programs can help to flatten an infection curve, and the United States is among the countries to have performed the most COVID-19 tests.

What happens to the body once infected?

Coronaviruses are typically spread through droplets of saliva when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Patients may start showing signs of a fever or cough, but symptoms can quickly increase in severity: coronaviruses are respiratory diseases that attack the lungs and can cause pneumonia. There is no vaccine to protect against the disease; once under attack, patients may require ventilators to support their breathing and strengthen a weakened immune system.

Number of cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) among U.S. Americans as of April 16, 2020*

Characteristic	Number of confirmed cases
Travel-related	6,814
Close contact	14,728
Under investigation	611,006

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Release date

April 2020

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Region

United States

Survey time period

as of April 16, 2020

Supplementary notes

* As of April 14, 2020, CDC case counts and death counts include both confirmed and probable cases and deaths. This change was made to reflect an interim COVID-19 position statement issued by the Council for State and Territorial Epidemiologists on April 5, 2020. The position statement included a case definition and made COVID-19 a nationally notifiable disease.
A confirmed case or death is defined by meeting confirmatory laboratory evidence for COVID-19. A probable case or death is defined by i) meeting clinical criteria AND epidemiologic evidence with no confirmatory laboratory testing performed for COVID-19; or ii) meeting presumptive laboratory evidence AND either clinical criteria OR epidemiologic evidence; or iii) meeting vital records criteria with no confirmatory laboratory testing performed for COVID19.
State and local public health departments are now testing and publicly reporting their cases. In the event of a discrepancy between CDC cases and cases reported by state and local public health officials, data reported by states should be considered the most up to date.

CDC is no longer reporting the number of persons under investigation (PUIs) that have been tested, as well as PUIs that have tested negative. Now that states are testing and reporting their own results, CDC’s numbers are not representative of all testing being done nationwide.

For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

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