The in-house doctor on Capitol Hill told congressional staffers that he expects there will be 70 million to 150 million coronavirus cases in the United States.
In the closed-door meeting, Dr. Brian Monahan, the attending physician of the U.S. Congress, shared the statistical prediction and told staffers they should prepare for the worst, according to Axios.
If the upper end of Monahan’s warning comes true, that would be roughly 30 million short of half the U.S. population. The Census Bureau estimated the U.S. population was 329.45 million in 2019.
He also told staffers that about 80% of people who get the virus will make a full recovery.
As of Wednesday afternoon, more than 1,100 people in the U.S. have been infected with the coronavirus, and 31 patients have died.
