The surgeon general is pleading with the public to stop buying surgical masks as Americans use any means they can to prevent getting infected with the fast-spreading coronavirus.
‘Seriously people – STOP Buying MASKS!’ Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams tweeted on Saturday.
‘They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!’
Adams also tweeted: ‘The best way to protect yourself and your community is with everyday preventive actions, like staying home when you are sick and washing hands with soap and water, to help slow the spread of respiratory illness.
US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams is urging the public to avoid buying surgical face masks
Travelers wear protective mask as they walk through in Terminal 5 at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago on Sunday
‘Seriously people – STOP Buying MASKS!’ Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams tweeted on Saturday
Adams also tweeted: ‘The best way to protect yourself and your community is with everyday preventive actions, like staying home when you are sick and washing hands with soap and water, to help slow the spread of respiratory illness’
‘Get your #FluShot – fewer flu patients = more resources for #COVID19.’
Adams on Sunday also posted further clarifications about coronavirus on his Twitter feed so as to ‘stop the spread of rumors.’
‘Diseases can make anyone sick regardless of their race or ethnicity,’ he tweeted.
‘People of Asian descent, including Chinese Americans, are not more likely to get COVID19 than any other American.’
Adams sought to reassure nervous Americans, saying that while coronavirus is a ‘serious disease,’ the ‘immediate health risk is considered low’ for the general public.
The surgeon general added that anyone ‘who has completed quarantine or has been released from isolation does not pose a risk of spreading’ coronavirus.
Adams urged the public to look out for symptoms of coronavirus, including fever, cough, and shortness of breath.
He added: ‘There are simple steps YOU can take to keep yourself and those around you healthy.
‘Wash your hands often with soap & water for at least 20 seconds.
‘Avoid touching your [face] w/ unwashed hands, and wipe down surfaces with cleaning solution or wipes.’
He also urged those who are sick to stay home from work and to cover your cough and sneeze.
Two new cases of coronavirus have been reported in Chicago and Rhode Island on Sunday, bringing the total number of Americans known to be infected with the pathogen to 73.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar confirmed the latest infection in Chicago during an appearance on Fox News Sunday, saying that authorities are now working to trace the source of the latest instance.
Adams on Sunday also posted further clarifications about coronavirus on his Twitter feed so as to ‘stop the spread of rumors.’
‘Diseases can make anyone sick regardless of their race or ethnicity,’ he tweeted.
Adams sought to reassure nervous Americans, saying that while coronavirus is a ‘serious disease,’ the ‘immediate health risk is considered low’ for the general public
The surgeon general added that anyone ‘who has completed quarantine or has been released from isolation does not pose a risk of spreading’ coronavirus
Adams urged the public to look out for symptoms of coronavirus, including fever, cough, and shortness of breath
He added: ‘There are simple steps YOU can take to keep yourself and those around you healthy. Wash your hands often with soap & water for at least 20 seconds’
He also urged those who are sick to stay home from work and to cover your cough and sneeze
So far, there are at least five reported cases nationwide – one in Chicago, one in Washington State, one in Oregon, and two in California – where authorities do not know how the virus was contracted, according to the federal government.
Also on Sunday, the Rhode Island Department of Health announced the first presumptive positive case of coronavirus.
The patient, a man in his 40s, had traveled to Italy in mid-February, the state agency said.
The coronavirus may have been circulating for weeks undetected in Washington state, a preliminary finding that could mean hundreds of undiagnosed cases in the state that’s also home to the nation´s first confirmed infection and now the first death, researchers said Sunday after analyzing genetic samples of the pathogens.
State and local authorities stepped up testing for the illness Sunday as the number of new cases grew nationwide, with new infections announced in Illinois, Rhode Island and Washington state.
Authorities in the Seattle area said two more people had been diagnosed with the coronavirus, both men in their 60s who were in critical condition.
Those cases brought the numbers in the Seattle area to six.
Fifty more people in a nursing facility in Kirkland, Washington, are sick and being tested for the virus.
Worried Americans swarmed stores to stock up on basic goods such as bottled water, canned foods and toilet paper.
As the fallout continued, Vice President Mike Pence and Azar sought to reassure the American public that the federal government is working to make sure state and local authorities are able to test for coronavirus.
Both said during a round of TV talk show appearances Sunday that thousands more kits to test for coronavirus had been distributed to state and local officials, with thousands more to come.
The coronavirus may have been circulating for weeks undetected in Washington state, a preliminary finding that could mean hundreds of undiagnosed cases in the state that’s also home to the nation´s first confirmed infection and now the first death. Seattle is seen above
A ‘medically high-risk’ male in his 50s died of coronavirus overnight Friday in Kirkland hospital EvergreenHealth
‘They should know we have the best public health system in the world looking out for them,’ Azar said, adding that additional cases will be reported and the overall risk to Americans is low.
As Americans prepared, researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington on Sunday said they had evidence that the coronavirus may have been circulating in the state for up to six weeks undetected – a finding that, if true, could mean hundreds of undiagnosed cases in the area.
The research was not published in a scientific journal or reviewed by other scientists.
Trevor Bedford, an associate professor at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington, said on Twitter late Saturday that genetic similarities between the state’s first case on January 20 and a case announced Friday indicated the newer case may have descended from the earlier one.
The January 20 case was the first known case in the United States.
‘I believe we’re facing an already substantial outbreak in Washington State that was not detected until now due to narrow case definition requiring direct travel to China,’ he said on Twitter.
Bedford did not immediately reply to an e-mail requesting an interview Sunday.
Scientists not affiliated with the research said the results did not necessarily surprise them and pointed out that for many people – especially younger, healthier ones – the symptoms are not much worse than a flu or bad cold.
Vice President Mike Pence admitted that there could be more US coronavirus deaths, departing from the president’s insistence in downplaying the threat. The comments came after a ‘medically high-risk’ man in his 50s had become the first person in the US to die from coronavirus
Pence, named by the president to be the point-person overseeing the government’s response, said more than 15,000 virus testing kits had been released over the weekend. CNN’s Jake Tapper is seen left
Four other cases were confirmed late Saturday night and into Sunday morning, making the total number of Americans diagnosed with the virus 73 and counting
‘We think that this has a pretty high rate of mild symptoms and can be asymptomatic. The symptoms are pretty non-specific and testing criteria has been pretty strict, so those combinations of factors means that it easily could have been circulating for a bit without us knowing,’ said Justin Lessler, an associated professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
‘And that was what a lot of us was thinking was likely.’
Pence, named by the president to be the point-person overseeing the government’s response, said more than 15,000 virus testing kits had been released over the weekend.
And, the administration is working with a commercial provider to distribute 50,000 more, he said.
The vice president said testing was among the first issues raised by governors he’s spoken with so far.
‘We’re leaning into it,’ Pence said.
Azar said more than 3,600 people already have been tested for coronavirus and the capability exists to test 75,000 people.
He forecast a ‘radical expansion of that’ in the coming weeks.
Pence and Azar spoke a day after President Trump approved new restrictions on international travel to prevent the spread within the U.S. of the new virus, which originated in China.
Alex Azar, the secretary of health and human services, said on Sunday that a new case of coronavirus was confirmed overnight in Chicago
There are now more than 80,000 cases worldwide and nearly 3,000 deaths.
The new US travel restrictions apply to Iran, although travel there by Americans already is severely limited, as well as heavily affected regions of Italy and South Korea.
Trump tweeted Sunday that any travelers from those countries will be screened when they arrive in the US.
The number of known coronavirus cases in the US had reached 73 as of Sunday.
Trump said Saturday at a White House news conference that he was thinking about closing the southern border with Mexico as a precaution.
Azar said Sunday that Mexico has few coronavirus cases and that it would take a dramatic change in the circumstances there to prompt serious consideration of a border shutdown.
The president, Azar said, ‘was trying to say everything’s on the table.’
‘We will take whatever measures are appropriate and necessary to protect the American people, but we don´t forecast doing that any time soon,’ he said of closing the border.
Pence noted that an infectious disease expert is joining an existing White House coronavirus task force on Monday.
Last week, Pence announced the addition of Debbie Birx, a State Department ambassador-at-large and medical doctor who is the administration’s global HIV/AIDS response coordinator, to the virus panel.
The Rhode Island Department of Health announced on Sunday the first presumptive case of coronavirus in the state. The patient is described as a person in their 40s who just returned from a trip to Italy, the site of the largest outbreak of coronavirus in Europe. The image above shows an unidentified tourist in the Piazza del Duomo in Milan on Saturday
Panic is setting in for residents on the West Coast as California becomes a coronavirus hotspot, Washington state reports the first death from the virus and Oregon officials announce that an elementary school employee has tested positive for the disease. A Los Angeles resident leaves a Burbank Costco with a cart full of toilet paper, bottled water and cleaning products
Anxious shoppers descended on California supermarkets (San Francisco shoppers pictured), stocking up on supplies like bottled water, canned food and Clorox wipes. The state has become a coronavirus hotspot, with more than half a dozen residents diagnosed with the disease in recent days
In Seattle, some shelves were emptied completely as residents rushed to stock up on supplies on Saturday
Shoppers visit a Costco Wholesale in Tigard, Oregon, on Saturday after reports of Oregon’s first case of coronavirus was announced in the nearby Oregon city of Lake Oswego on Friday
Shoppers stockpiled on food, water and other supplies at a Costco Wholesale in Tigard, Oregon, on Saturday
Despite calls by Trump and Pence for political unity in the face of the viral threat, the issue has become mired in the partisan rancor in Washington, with both Republicans and Democrats accusing each other of mining the issue for political gain.
Trump, at a political rally last week, accused Democrats of ‘politicizing’ the issue and said their criticism of his handling of the public health challenge was their new ‘hoax.’
At the White House on Saturday, Trump said he was not trying to minimize the threat from the virus.
‘Again, the hoax was used in respect to Democrats and what they were saying,’ he said Saturday.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who emerged victorious Saturday night from South Carolina’s primary, criticized the administration over the availability of testing kits.
Biden also panned the administration’s decision to have political appointees Pence and Azar, neither of whom are scientists by training, appear on the Sunday shows, instead of an expert like Dr. Anthony Fauci, the National Institute’s of Health infectious disease chief.
Biden claimed the administration doesn’t have testing kits. Pence and Azar said thousands of kits had been distributed.
Azar said he didn’t know what Biden was talking about when the former vice president said testing kits didn’t exist.
Azar said the Center for Disease Control and Prevention had developed a lab test for coronavirus with ‘historic speed.’
Pence was interviewed on CNN’s State of the Union and Azar commented on Fox News Sunday, CBS’ Face the Nation and ABC’s This Week.
Biden commented on CNN.