Speaking about the spread of the novel coronavirus in a March 23 interview on NBC's Today, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams, MD, warned Americans that "this week, it's going to get bad."
Dr. Adams said the outbreak will worsen this week as people aren't practicing social distancing or taking the threat seriously enough.
"I think that there are a lot of people who are doing the right things, but I think that unfortunately we're finding out a lot of people think this can't happen to them," said Dr. Adams.
"We don't want Dallas or New Orleans or Chicago to turn into the next New York and that means everyone needs to be taking the right steps right now, and that means stay at home."
As of 10 a.m. CDT, March 23, the U.S. reported 35,241 coronavirus cases and 371 deaths from the virus, according to Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University.
Globally, 353,692 cases and 15,430 deaths have been reported with 100,430 people recovering from the illness.