US Surgeon General on coronavirus: Next week will be our Pearl Harbor moment

and now joining us is Vice Admiral Jerome Adams, US Surgeon General, dr. Adams United States is now reporting 30,000 new cases per day and I want to post a graph showing the curve of cases in Italy and China that have plateaued and are now going down and the curve on the far right here in the US is still in the early stages and still making strong progress given the course of the disease in China and Italy and that we are

week

s or months behind them how serious this epidemic

will

be in the United States and how long it

will

last well, it is tragically appropriate that we are talking at the beginning of Easter because this will be the hardest and saddest

week

for most Americans, frankly, this will be our Pearl Harbor

moment

, our 9/11

moment

, it's just not going to be localized.

It's going to be happening across the country and I want America to understand that, but I also want them to understand that the public, along with the state and federal government, have the power to change the trajectory of this epidemic. You mentioned Italy and Spain. They had a very, very bad time and they're still having a bad time, but it seems like they've peaked and they're coming back to the other side and you say it's been weeks and months. I would actually back off a little bit when you look at their trajectory from about a month ago is when they really started to lean into their aggressive mitigation efforts, they are really aggressive mitigation efforts and that's why I want Americans to understand that it's harder this week there will be a light at the end of the tunnel, if everyone does their part over the

next

30 days, we will see Washington, in fact, where this started to do a much better job.

California's trajectory has stabilized and so there is hope, but we all have to do our part, but let's talk about mitigation because the president's top health advisors, including you, say the most important thing we can all do is stay home and yet there are still nine states with millions of Americans that have not yet issued permission to stay home. orders that President Trump was asked about this week here he is the governor the governor knows what he's doing, he's been doing a great job, I guess about 90 percent anyway, and the states that we're from speaking they are not in danger now I would leave it in the hands of the governor, but dr.

Adams,

coronavirus

is not a state issue, it does not follow or respect state borders dr. Pouchy says he believes there should be a national stay-at-home order. If you're wrong, Chris, it's important to understand that the majority of people across the country are doing the right thing; over ninety percent of the country is staying home and a good proportion more than the average is staying home even in those nine states, but the last time you and I talked it was about opioids, people don't know that, but I I run a state Department of Health. I have been involved in health for years and not diseases.

We respect it based on state lines, but we live in a country where we have a system of federalism and when it comes to opioids, states have different rules, regulations and laws regarding treatment regarding syringe service programs, like you and I have spoken. In fact, I published a report on tobacco cessation earlier this year and we know that states have different laws there and that more people are going to die from even the worst projections from smoking cigarettes in this country than are going to die from

coronavirus

this year, so we are always fighting to try. to spread information to guide people that we know will help them stay healthy with state rights, but that's why we're posting these 30 days to stop the spread guidelines.

These are essentially our national stay-at-home order and we are working with the governors to determine their needs, their desires, one more important point, the nine states that have not yet issued stay-at-home orders are states that actually produce a lot of our food, so they are struggling with issues around how they can provide for the rest of the country to be able to stay home, but right now what I would say to those governors is if you can't give us a month, give us what you can give us. In a week, give us what you can to stay home.

During this particularly difficult time when we will peak in the

next

seven to ten days, but doctor, but dr. Adams there is a big difference between opioids and cigarettes, which are something that people decide to use or not, and the coronavirus that people get is not an individual choice and you know when President Trump says he is a president in times of war during World War II. FDR didn't say it right, it's up to each state to decide what to do. Mobilized the nation again, why not a national stay-at-home order? The corona virus does not recognize states' rights, so does the federal analogy really work here?

Chris I know that a week ago is forever in the time of the Kiruna virus, but I would like to remind people that it was just a week ago that the idea of ​​a federal quarantine for the New York City area was being floated. Governor Cuomo said that would be like declaring war on states that governors intensely and rightly protect their right to be able to decide what is best for their states and we will do everything we can as scientists in their doctors and medical professionals to help them. to understand what we believe is right. to do it and I just want everyone to know that from a national perspective the Surgeon General is saying no matter where you are, stay home at least give us a week or two if you can, we want you to do it for 30 days. but even in those nine states, give us what you can so we can reach this peak and start coming down on the other side, dr.

Adams for days President Trump has been talking about hydroxychloroquine as a possible treatment for people with the corona virus, but yesterday at his briefing he took it even further, take a look, what do you have to lose? In some cases, they are in poor condition. You have to lose. I can take it and I'll have to ask my doctors about it, but I can take it. Dr. Adams, as the nation's top public health official, are you comfortable with people taking an untested and untested drug, even with people who don't actually have the virus? This is what we have advised the president and this is what I have heard him say consistently when people in a tragic situation, if they were in the hospital or a loved one in the hospital with Kovan 19, we want them to be able to have a conversation with their healthcare provider about everything they could do to save their lives.

There are some stories. There are some stories about hydroxychloroquine helping and we know it's been available for years, so we feel a little better about its safety than a completely new drug, even though it's used in much higher doses, so we just want to be able to make it easier for doctors and patients to have that conversation, that's what I tell people, that's what I heard the president tell people finally and I have about a minute left here, dr . Adams, the CDC now recommends that people cover their faces in public, and in fact, you appear in a CDC video showing people how to make themselves a mask that they can wear, but President Trump left Of course he won't follow it. that guide, take a look here sir, I think wearing a mask while greeting presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens, I don't know, somehow, I don't see it myself, does that statement by the president send a mixed message about taking this recommendation?

Seriously, if you look at the CDC guidelines, they actually emphasize that number one is voluntary and number two, and the most important part of this is that they are not a substitute for social distancing. Yesterday I was at the White House. I'm going to Immediately after this, the White House doctors and the Secret Service are scrambling to make sure that everyone is maintaining social distancing from the president and the vice president and from each other, so the president is making a decision that is appropriate for him and what I want Americans to do. What I know is that if you are going out in public and you are going to be within six feet of other people, you can wear a cloth face covering and here is mine that I made very easy to use and it protects you from me.

We want people to do it. I understand that you're using this not to protect yourself, you're using it to protect your neighbor and that's what this week is going to be about people staying home to protect their neighbors, people wearing cloth face coverings if they have to. leave. Going out in public to protect your neighbor will be a test of our resolve. It will be the test of our lives, but I am confident that we can come out on the other side based on the data and what I know about the American people. Dr. Adams, thank you, thank you for your time during these busy days.

Come back, sir, thank you.