In an interview with “Fox News Sunday,” U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said that Americans should prepare for a very grim week in terms of the coronavirus outbreak. Speaking to the rates of both infections and death, which are growing exponentially worse in most U.S. states and cities, Adams said that the upcoming week would be one of the worst in the country’s history.
“Well, it’s tragically fitting that we’re talking at the beginning of Holy Week because this is going to be the hardest and the saddest week of most Americans’ lives, quite frankly,” Adams said. “This is going to be our Pearl Harbor moment, our 9/11 moment, only it’s not going to be localized. It’s going to be happening all over the country. And I want America to understand that.”
Adams said that there was still hope that, with the proper social distancing, both individuals and local governments “have the power to change the trajectory of this epidemic.”
“I want Americans to understand that, as hard as this week is going to be, there is a light at the end of the tunnel if everyone does their part for the next 30 days,” he said. “It’s why we put out these thirty days to stop the spread guidelines. These are essentially our national stay-at-home order. And we’re working with governors to figure out their needs, their desires.”
Adams said that even if you haven’t been adhering to the guidelines up until now, this was the perfect time to start.
“This is going to be a test of our resolve,” he said of the coming days. “It’s going to be the test of our lives. But I am confident that we can come out on the other side, based on the data and based on what I know about the American people.”
Echoes of the Surgeon General’s warning could be heard throughout the Trump administration. On Saturday, Dr. Deborah Birx told reporters that the next two weeks would be “extraordinarily important” in terms of slowing the spread of the virus.
“This is the moment to not be going to the grocery store, not going to the pharmacy, but doing everything you can to keep your family and your friends safe and that means everybody doing the six-feet distancing, washing their hands,” Birx said.
And President Trump, in his characteristically blunt manner, gave the news without leaving much room for interpretation.
“There’s going to be a lot of deaths,” the president said.
Stay safe, y’all.
