Nation’s top doc urges people to prepare for ‘Pearl Harbor’ moment this week as coronavirus toll passes 9,000 deaths

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams
U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams(Alex Brandon/AP)

The U.S. surgeon general told Americans to brace themselves for a horrifying continuation of the coronavirus outbreak this week, saying “This is going to be our Pearl Harbor, our 9/11 moment.”
Speaking as the nationwide toll of coronavirus cases surged past 300,000 with more than 9,000 deaths, Vice Admiral Dr. Jerome Adams warned, “this is going to be the hardest and the saddest week of most Americans’ lives.”
“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 said on “Fox News Sunday.”
The warning marked a stark contrast with President Trump’s comments later Sunday.
“We’re starting to see light at the end of the tunnel,” Trump said at the White House. “We’ll be very proud of the job we all did.”
President Donald Trump speaks during a coronavirus task force briefing at the White House, Sunday, April 5, in Washington.
President Donald Trump speaks during a coronavirus task force briefing at the White House, Sunday, April 5, in Washington.(Patrick Semansky/AP)
He also touted an an unproven treatment of the virus, saying the federal government has stockpiled 29 million hydroxychloroquine pills.
"What do I know? I’m not a doctor,” he told reporters. “If it does work, it would be a shame not to use it ... What do you have to lose?”
The feds are doing clinical trials of hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus, but experts fear Trump is creating false hope.
The president also touted recent efforts to send supplies to suffering localities, including 600,000 N95 masks to reach New York City hospitals and 200,000 for Long Island on Monday.
Last week, the nation’s top infectious disease expert predicted coronavirus would claim 100,000 to 200,000 lives by the end of the outbreak. The forecast from Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, took on new urgency over the weekend, as the number of cases and deaths in New York state continued to increase and hot spots flared up from New Jersey to New Orleans and beyond.
President Donald Trump listens as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci speaks during a coronavirus task force briefing at the White House, Sunday, April 5, in Washington.
President Donald Trump listens as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci speaks during a coronavirus task force briefing at the White House, Sunday, April 5, in Washington.(Patrick Semansky/AP)
The Empire State’s number of confirmed COVID-19 cases jumped to 122,031 on Saturday night, the latest day for which data were available, though the increase from Friday to Saturday was smaller than the one from Thursday to the start of the weekend.
Gov. Cuomo said the new numbers, which included smaller increases in deaths, hospitalizations and intubations, offered a glimmer of possible hope.
“You could argue that you're seeing a slight plateauing in the data, which obviously would be good news,” he told reporters in Albany.
Still, spikes of new cases elsewhere in the country presented a grim picture of the weeks ahead.
In New Jersey, the second-hardest-hit state in the U.S., there were 917 deaths and 37,505 confirmed infections as of Sunday afternoon. That marked a jump of 71 deaths and 3,482 new cases over the previous day’s numbers.
A visibly distraught woman leans against a wall outside of Wyckoff Hospital in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn on Sunday, April 5 in New York.
A visibly distraught woman leans against a wall outside of Wyckoff Hospital in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn on Sunday, April 5 in New York.(BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, cities throughout the country are garnering increased concern.
New Orleans had 477 deaths and 13,010 cases as of Sunday afternoon, while Detroit had 129 fatalities and nearly 4,000 cases.
"We are always telling people we would rather prevent disease than treat disease. I tell people we aren't going to treat or supply our way out of this problem. There is no magic bullet or magic cure. It's good old-fashioned public health and prevention," Adams said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
The nation’s top physician urged the nine states that are yet to issue stay-at-home orders to do more to contain the virus.
“Give us what you can, so that we don’t overwhelm our health care systems over this next week,” Adams urged governors.
“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,” he added.
Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska and North and South Dakota have no stay-at-home orders in effect. South Carolina, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming have such orders in parts of the state.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who recently signed an order banning out-of-state travelers from hotels, said the state is doing enough.

“We have a targeted approach that is very strict,” the Republican leader said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “We’re emphasizing social distancing, and we will do more as we need to.”

Across the pond, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was hospitalized Sunday with coronavirus as the U.K. reported 621 new deaths, bringing the country’s toll to 4,934.

Officials called Johnson’s hospitalization a “precautionary” move and said he will stay in charge of the government.

In Israel, which had 8,000 confirmed cases and 48 deaths, the traditional Palm Sunday procession was scaled back. A small group of monks and Catholic worshippers marched down Jerusalem’s Christian Quarter, instead of the usual procession of thousands.

In one bright spot in the bleak coronavirus landscape, Italy, one of the hardest-hit countries on Earth, had its lowest daily death toll in over two weeks.

Italy logged 525 COVID deaths Sunday, the lowest number since March 19, when there were 427 fatalities.

“This good news shouldn’t make us drop our guard,” said Angelo Borrelli, the head of the national Civil Protection agency.

Fauci emphasized the U.S. does not yet have coronavirus under control.

“We are struggling to get it under control, and that's the issue that's at hand right now,” he said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday.

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