Surgeon General Warns: Take Action Now, or US Will Be Like Italy

The United States is not an "authoritarian nation" like China and South Korea, where strict actions have curbed the spread of coronavirus, but at the same time, Americans must take actions of their own to avoid becoming like locked-down Italy, Surgeon General Jerome Adams warned Monday. 

“People, we are where Italy was two weeks ago in terms of our numbers, and we have a choice to make as a nation: Do we want to go the direction of South Korea, and really be aggressive and lower our mortality rates, or do we want to go the direction of Italy?” Adams said on Fox News' "Fox and Friends." 

"When you look at the projections, there’s every chance that we could be Italy."

He also defended the Trump administration's actions on coronavirus, including travel bans and President Donald Trump's declaration of a national emergency, but said "we have to be careful when we say, ‘Let’s do what China did. Let’s do what South Korea did,’” Adams said. 

There is "every hope" that "we will be South Korea" if Americans listen, practice social distancing, and follow basic public health recommendations that are being made, said Adams. 

"The number one way to protect yourself from coronavirus is by washing your hands properly for 20 seconds," said Adams. "The number two way is to stay away from people who are sick. Those are the two things that will get us out of this."

Adams also would not agree on a "specific time" that Americans can return to life as usual, including ending social distancing. However, he said that after China "really leaned into this," a few months later there and in South Korea cases have been dropping. 

“We’re hopeful that if we lean into this, then maybe in about six to eight weeks, we’ll get over the majority of the pain, we will have flattened the curve, and we can start to slowly get back to life as normal," said Adams. 

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