Earlier today, US Surgeon General Jerome Adams gave a telling warning of how the coronavirus outbreak is going in the US: “I want America to understand — this week, it’s gonna get bad.”

“As the nation’s doctor, I’m here to help America understand where we need to respond to this,” Adams told the Today show, saying that “every single second counts, and right now there are not enough people out there who are taking this seriously,” he warned, pointing to people still getting together in parks and on beaches.

The ongoing situation in New York (more than 20,000 confirmed infected in a single day) highlights the dangers of reacting too late, he explains. “waiting to see spread before they decide to get serious.”

The most important thing to remember right now is that while we can all catch, get hospitalized, or even die from the virus, we act as carriers and can spread the virus to our loved ones.

“We don’t want Dallas or New Orleans or Chicago to turn into the next New York,” he said.

“It means everyone needs to be taking the right steps right now. And that means stay at home.”

We’ve learned in Europe that not respecting quarantine, and not asking the public to isolate itself fast, leads to disastrous consequences. I hope the US will listen to the warnings of its Surgeon General, and that we don’t have to update our charts with ever-more numbers of victims of this virus.