Surgeon General: Next Week Will Be Our ‘Pearl Harbor And 9/11 Moments’

Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams told NBC‘s “Meet the Press” that next week’s national coronavirus situation would be “our Pearl Harbor moment,” adding “It’s going to be our 9/11 moment.“

Responding to a question on state-specific stay-at-home orders, Adams said “I talked to many of these governors, and here’s what I say to them. Here’s what I would say to them right now. The next week is going to be our Pearl Harbor moment. It’s going to be our 9/11 moment. It’s going to be the hardest moment for many Americans in their entire lives, and 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.”

Jerome Adams: Next Week Will Be The Coronavirus “Pearl Harbor, 9/11 Moment” pic.twitter.com/DLeL05lsIZ

— Pitbull (@Willian87420216) April 5, 2020

Adams says that “Ninety percent of Americans are doing their part – even on those states where they haven’t had a shelter-in-place.” He then asked governors to give the Trump administration at least a week – if they can’t give them 30-days, “so we don’t overwhelm our health care systems over this next week,” adding that they would reassess at that point.

“We want everyone to understand; you have to be Rosie the Riveter. You have to do your part.”

Mask-gate…

Adams has also been backpedaling bigly on his February 29th recommendation to “STOP BUYING MASKS” – as he claimed they “are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus.”

Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS!

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!
https://t.co/UxZRwxxKL9

— U.S. Surgeon General (@Surgeon_General) February 29, 2020

Wrong.

To cover his tracks, Adams told MSNBC “Here’s what’s changed. We now know that, uh, about 25% and some studies even more, of COVID-19 is transmitted when you are asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic.”

WATCH: The U.S. @Surgeon_General says don’t “substitute social distancing with face masks.” #IfItsSunday

Vice Adm. Adams: “We always recommended if people had symptoms they wear a face mask … the CDC has now recommended that people wear cloth face coverings out in public.” pic.twitter.com/eOQazZmOG6

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) April 5, 2020

Except we’ve known about asymptomatic transmission since at least January; as we wrote on January 27th: “Incubation is asymptomatic, contagious, and can be as long as 14 days.”

Meanwhile, several counties around the country are now mandating face coverings in public – and the CDC has considered recommending that people wear face masks all the time.

More Adams clips:

WATCH: Vice Admiral Jerome Adams says “we want everyone to act as if they have COVID-19 right now.” #MTP #IfItsSunday@Surgeon_General: “Protect your neighbor, protect your loved ones.” pic.twitter.com/RgBoh6X85y

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) April 5, 2020

WATCH: Vice Admiral Jerome Adams says “we want everyone to act as if they have COVID-19 right now.” #MTP #IfItsSunday@Surgeon_General: “Protect your neighbor, protect your loved ones.” pic.twitter.com/RgBoh6X85y

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) April 5, 2020

Meanwhile, the latest as of this writing: