The US has become the first country in the world to officially hit 100 MILLION Covid cases – amid reports that China alone has suffered 250 million in the past month

America has become the first country to officially reach the milestone of 100 million Covid infections – which is probably a huge underestimate.

The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that cumulative US cases as of December 21 were in the nine digits.

India has the second highest number of infections at just 44 million, followed by France at 39 million, according to research database OurWorldInData.

But the raw number of cases does not take into account the population size. When you take that into account, the US only ranks 58th worldwide.

But the raw number of cases does not take into account the population size. When you take that into account, the US only ranks 58th worldwide

It is difficult to compare Covid cases between countries due to different approaches to testing and data collection.

China alone has conducted more tests than the US – about 9 billion and 900 million respectively.

But Beijing and places like Russia have been accused of withholding case numbers to cover up authoritarian regimes’ efforts to contain outbreaks.

Up to 250 million people fell ill with Covid in the first 20 days of December in China after the country suddenly reversed its controversial zero-Covid policy.

DR John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital, said reaching 100 million cases in the US was an important moment.

But he added that this was likely a serious undercount, as many Americans do not test or are asymptomatic.

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DR Brownstein told ABC: “Obviously it’s a milestone that points to the massive transmission of this virus and the population burden we’re dealing with.

“At the same time, we recognize that reported cases are definitely a large undercount – from the beginning of the pandemic, when testing was non-existent, to the shift to home testing, where a significant proportion of cases went unreported.

“I think we know that a large majority of the population is already infected with COVID,” Brownstein said. “Therefore this number represents only a fraction of all cases. [The milestone] was most likely struck many months ago.’

The official US case count of 100.7 million shows that about one in three Americans have had the virus at least once.

Yet a CDC study in April 2022 estimated that 60 percent of the country was infected with the virus. The official case numbers do not distinguish between repeated infections.

The 100 million cases come as pandemic politics begin to creep back into everyday life in America.

Hundreds of thousands of students across the US will be forced to walk to class when schools return today as controversial mandates return.

The total number of Covid cases in the US reached 100 million on December 21 – making America the first country to surpass the nine-digit number

The raw figure does not take into account population size and is fraught with caveats – such as the US doing far more testing than most countries in the world. Here, the chart shows how the US has tamed the outbreak

Despite the number of Covid infections stagnating for months, elementary and middle schools in New Jersey, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania have made face coverings an entry requirement for students returning from vacation.

Education officials say the policy is aimed at preventing an explosion in respiratory illnesses after more mingling during the first normal Christmas and New Year in years.

But there is little evidence that face masks actually reduce the number of infections, and mounting research shows that the regulations have hindered children’s social development and education and robbed them of essential immunity against other seasonal pathogens such as influenza and RSV.

The government also announced last week that all passengers from China will be screened on entry, although there is no evidence that the policy is working either.