Dr. Jerome Adams is America’s doctor.
Adams is the U.S. Surgeon General — and, by all accounts, a very, very smart guy.
During a White House press conference on Saturday, the doctor delivered some useful and practical advice to Americans worried about the coronavirus (COVID-19).
I want you all to understand some straight talk from the nation’s doctor: We really need you all to lean into and prioritize the health and safety of the American people. No more bickering, no more partisanship, no more criticism or finger pointing. There’ll be plenty of time for that.
But we all need to hit the reset button and lean into moving forward the health and safety of the American people as their top priority. More stories on how people can protect themselves, more people on — or how people can get the resources that they need that we’ve unleashed from the federal government and state and local governments. Less stories looking at what happened in the past. Again, there’ll be time for that.
I want you all to understand, as [National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases] Dr. [Anthony] Fauci said, this will get worse before it gets better, but we are making progress to flatten the curve. We are making progress.
Three important points: Number one, almost all people will recover. Ninety-eight, ninety-nine percent of people will recover. People need to know that. And we heard a great story on NPR this morning about an 89-year-old from that nursing home facility in Seattle who is recovered.
Number two, we must lean into protecting the most vulnerable: those with chronic or severe medical conditions, especially seniors. Now is the time for us to lean into that, and we are taking the measures to protect them at HHS. Secretary [Alex] Azar, Bob Kadlec, Bob Redfield, Admiral [Brett] Giroir are hard at work right now, leaning into that from the federal level.
But we need your help. Social distancing and mitigation, they’re not to protect the 30-year-old or the 20-year-old from getting coronavirus. They’re to protect your nana, they’re to protect your granddaddy, they’re to protect the people who you love in your lives. And we need your help.
And finally, we all have a role to play. If we are complacent, selfish, uninformed, if we spread fear and distrust and misinformation, this situation will last longer and more people will be hurt. But if we pitch in and we share the facts, we will flatten the curve and we will overcome this situation.
Words of wisdom, indeed.
Appearing later on Fox News’ “Justice with Judge Jeanine,” Adams urged Americans to take responsibility in protecting themselves and their neighbors from the virus which has killed thousands and sickened tens of thousands worldwide.
“I want people to use their energy, particularly in these next few critical weeks, to really push the information out to people that they can use to protect themselves,” the surgeon general added. “You’re not helpless, America. You can wash your hands. You can social distance and stay home. We need to lean into protecting our most vulnerable, people with chronic and severe medical conditions, especially the elderly because we know they are most at risk,” Dr. Adams said.
“We are at a critical inflection point in this country, where we need to flatten the curve,” Adams said. “We have a choice — do we want to look more like South Korea with a lower mortality rate, or do we want to look more like Italy?”
“And if we want to look more like South Korea, at the end of this, then we need everyone to understand we are not going to solve this problem from Washington, D.C. — we are not going to solve it from CDC in Atlanta. It will be solved at the community level and solved by people coming together.”