The COVID-19 pandemic has perhaps put the U.S. on track for one of the deadliest weeks in its history.
This according to U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who made the grave announcement on Sunday, saying this week will be the “hardest and the saddest” for “most Americans’ lives.” He also likened the coming days to Pearl Harbor and 9/11.
“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,” Vice Admiral Adams said on Fox News.
He added, “I want Americans to understand that as hard as this week is going to be, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Washington governor Jay Inslee called Adams' comparison "ludicrous." He wasn't alone in his thinking, given that those were attacks that were largely unforeseen, whereas the U.S. reportedly had knowledge that the coronavirus would strike American soil months in advance.
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Officials say the next two weeks will be vital in preventing the continued spread of coronavirus, which has already claimed the lives of nearly 10,000 Americans. Donald Trump echoed these sentiments on Saturday during a coronavirus task force briefing at the White House: “This will be probably the toughest week between this week and next week, and there will be a lot of death, unfortunately, but a lot less death than if this wasn't done but there will be death," he said
Adams requested that governors who hadn’t yet announced stay-at-home directives to think about a temporary shutdown. “If you can't give us a month, give us a week ... give us what you can,” he said.
A handful of state governors have yet to issue statewide orders that advise residents to stay at home. They have all ignored recommendations made by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert. “If you look at what's going on in this country, I just don't understand why we're not doing that,” Fauci recently told CNN.
Meanwhile, Trump has refused to issue a nationwide order, allowing states to make their own decisions. “We have a thing called the Constitution, which I cherish,” Trump said on Saturday. “Now in some cases we'll supersede ... it depends on the individual state that you're talking about. ... If I saw something wrong, if I saw a massive outbreak, of which there's not, I would come down very hard.”
