Rep. Doug Collins, following Friday morning's full House briefing on the coronavirus emergency, said that the main emphasis right now is for people to be cautious and to seek medical treatment if they're suffering from symptoms.
"Take every proper precaution," the Georgia Republican told Fox News' "America's Newsroom."
"Use the normal precautions that we have for health, especially in public places, but (don't) panic. I think that's the biggest thing to look at."
Collins said he does think Democrats and Republicans will put politics aside and start working together on managing the outbreak and its effects on the country.
"It's like everything else, we'll try pretty much everything else and then come together and do what's right in the end, as the old saying goes," said Collins. "But I think the problem is right now, is there is a lot of political contention. There's still a lot of sniping at the president."
However, during the meeting, there was a great deal of "coming together" to ask basic questions about testing and whether efforts are being made to keep airport workers protected and to make sure doctors have the information they need, said Collins.
He also discussed the market drops, commenting that the reactions are more about market conditions in places such as China, where U.S. supply chains are affected, rather than the illness itself affecting American citizens.
"That's not a surprise when you have tech companies and others who have supply chains in Southeast Asia, in China and others, those are going to be affected," said Collins. "I think if we get this under control, you'll see that (the markets) pick back up in the third and fourth quarter, probably, or second."
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