(Photo: AFP)

Washington (People’s Daily) -- The novel coronavirus has caused more deaths in the United States than official statistics show, Anthony Fauci, a top infectious diseases expert in the US, told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee at a Tuesday morning hearing.

Fauci was responding to a question from Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

Sanders asked Fauci what he thought of the claim by some epidemiologists that the actual number of deaths in the United States might be 50 percent higher than currently reported.

Fauci replied that he did not know whether the 50 percent figure was accurate, but he acknowledged that the actual number of deaths in the United States must be higher than the available statistics.

He cited the example of New York City, where he said there are cases in which may have died at home.

Those patients had never been tested for COVID-19 and are therefore not counted in official statistics.