Jerome Adams, the U.S. Surgeon General, said Sunday the next two weeks will be the ‘hardest and saddest’ of most Americans’ lives as the deaths from coronavirus are expected to peak next Thursday.
‘This is going to be the hardest and the saddest week of most Americans’ lives, quite frankly,’ Adams told Fox News Sunday.
‘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,’ he continued in his warning to Americans.
He reiterated his point during an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday morning, claiming coronavirus will be the defining moment for this generation and ‘hardest moment for many Americans in their entire lives.’
According to a model created by the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, coronavirus will reach its peak on April 16 in the U.S.
Surgeon General Jerome Adams said Sunday that the next two weeks will be the ‘hardest and saddest of most Americans’ lives’ as coronavirus is expected to peak next Thursday
‘This is going to be our Pearl Harbor moment, our 9/11 moment,’ he told Fox News in claiming the coronavirus pandemic will be a defining moment for this generation
The peak, Adams said on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday morning, will likely be April 16 as long as Americans comply with stay-at-home orders and listen to recommendations from the White House task force and CDC – including new recommendations that everyone wear a mask when they are in public
Adams compared the coronavirus outbreak to other defining events for America like Pearl Harbor (left) and the September 11 terrorist attacks (right)
In warning of the upcoming coronavirus devastation, the death toll in the U.S. surpassed 8,500 and there are now more than 312,000 confirmed cases
‘We really need to understand that if we want to flatten that curve and get through to the other side, everyone needs to do their part,’ Adams asserted to NBC’s Chuck Todd. ‘Ninety percent of Americans are doing their part, even in the states where they haven’t had a shelter in place. But if you can’t give us 30 days, governors, give us, give us a week, give us what you can, so that we don’t overwhelm our healthcare systems over this next week. And then let’s reassess at that point.’
‘We want everyone to understand you’ve got to be Rosie The Riveter you’ve got to do your part,’ he continued.
Adams was specifically calling responding to governors who have not yet issued stay-at-home or lockdown orders in their respective states yet.
Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota have no known lockdown orders in place – while Utah, Wyoming, Oklahoma and North Carolina do not have state-wide orders, but some counties and cities have issued their own.
Eight of the states are run by Republican governors – with North Carolina the only exception.
Different states have issued varying degrees of orders for residents, including imposing fines on those who go leave their residence for non-essential purposes or hold gatherings of 10 or more people.
The U.S. death toll surpassed 8,500 by Sunday morning and there are more than 312,000 confirmed cases – more than any other nation is reporting.
Cases of coronavirus in the U.S. skyrocketed since the last week of March as the White House admitted people can transmit the disease during the incubation period
At the end of March, Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force extended national guidelines to prevent the spread of coronavirus, which includes not holding social gatherings with more than 10 people and only leaving the home for essential purposes, like for food or to seek medical attention.
Trump also predicted last month that the country would be back up and running like normal by Easter, which is April 12. But he very quickly walked back on that claim, admitting that the peak of deaths and cases would likely fall around Easter instead.
The president announced March 29 that the administration’s coronavirus task force’s 15-day plan to reduce the spread of the disease is being extended 30 days, which is weeks past his self-imposed Easter deadline.
‘The modeling estimates that the peak is likely to hit in two weeks,’ he said at the time. ‘So, I’ll say it again: The peak – the highest point of death rates, remember this – is likely to hit in two week. Nothing would be worse than declaring before the victory is won. That would be the greatest loss of all.’
He admitted during that briefing that his Easter deadline was just an ‘aspiration,’ and now says he hopes the country will be on its way to recovery by June 1.
Some states are on lockdown or stay-at-home orders past that date – like Virginia, where the directive goes until June 10.
Adams is one of the familiar faces seen during the White House coronavirus task force briefings with the president, vice president and Doctors Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx.
Sunday is the first time in weeks Trump has not held a press briefing at the White House to update the nation on the developing coronavirus outbreak.