npr

“I want America to understand this week it’s going to get bad,” U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said Monday morning, speaking about the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to stop the coronavirus from infecting more people in the U.S.

Adams also urged people to stay home to prevent the respiratory virus from spreading — and he said too many people in New York and other states are ignoring guidance to observe social distancing and avoid close contacts with others.

“I think there are a lot of people who are doing the right things, but I think that unfortunately we are finding out a lot of people think this can’t happen to them,” Adams said in an interview with the TODAY show on NBC News.