U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams is urging Americans to prepare for a potentially bad week regarding the spread of the coronavirus.
On Monday, Adams appeared on the “TODAY” show on NBC News where he discussed the coronavirus pandemic and the precautions being taken to lessen the spread of the virus.
Adams offered a grim prediction regarding what can be expected this week. He made it clear that things will grow worse this week.
“I want America to understand — this week, it’s going to get bad,” Adams told NBC’s Savannah Guthrie urging Americans “to come together as a nation.”
He went on to express concern about people failing to effectively practice social distancing, noting the importance of staying at home during this critical time.
“I think there are a lot of people who are doing the right things, but I think that unfortunately, we are finding out a lot of people think this can’t happen to them,” Adams said.
Check out Adams’ remarks below:
Stark message from Dr. Jerome Adams: “I want America to understand, this week it’s going to get bad.” We’re entering week 2 of the 15-day effort to slow the spread. Unclear if & when that expands but Adams warned some are not taking this seriously enough. pic.twitter.com/iWM9UbySV3
— Monica Alba (@albamonica) March 23, 2020
Adams also explained why it is imperative to adhere to state laws, recommendations, and stay-at-home orders.
Noting that the cases being reported now are based on exposure that may have occurred prior to the orders currently in place, Adams hopes to see the numbers decline. But based on what he is seeing he is not sure of that, as of yet.
He went on to name multiple metropolitan areas with numbers of positive cases rising at an accelerated rate.
“We don’t want Dallas or New Orleans or Chicago to turn into the next New York,” Adams said. “It means everyone needs to be taking the right steps right now.”
He also offered words of advice for young people. While the coronavirus has more of an effect on specific groups of people, —those with pre-existing conditions and/or over the age of 60 — Adams wants to make it clear that coronavirus is not limited to people in those groups.
“It’s important for young people to know: You can get this disease, you can be hospitalized from this disease, you can die from this disease – but most importantly, you can spread it to your loved ones,” Adams said. “So we need you to really lean in.”
Adams’ appearance on the “TODAY” show comes as multiple states are ordering its residents to stay home and refrain from going out unless it is for essentials. As of Monday afternoon, coronavirus cases in the United States passed 40,000.
