CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta are worried that many people are not taking the coronavirus outbreak seriously and are failing to take precautions that health experts say are necessary to save lives.
“How I behave affects your health. How you behave affects my health,” said Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent. “Never, I think, have we been so dependent on each other, at least not in my lifetime, and we should rise to that occasion.”
Tapper agreed, lamenting pictures and videos showing some still-crowded beaches in Florida and other public areas where some people have gathered despite the federal government’s recommendation that people stay home.
“First of all, we see a whole bunch of people here who are not distancing,” Tapper added. “They’re holding hands and walking down the street. Normally I’d say bravo, but this is actually kind of enraging.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as the White House, have asked people to practice social distancing as part of a 15-day plan to contain a nationwide outbreak of the coronavirus.
Cases have been confirmed in all 50 states, and many have shuttered schools, businesses, and offices.
In San Francisco, the mayor has ordered all residents to “shelter in place.”
“Many people in San Francisco have clearly not gotten the message,” Tapper said.
“I still really get the impression people in many places aren’t taking this seriously,” @drsanjaygupta says on many San Francisco residents ignoring the shelter in place order to stay home. “I’m worried these numbers- they keep going up.” pic.twitter.com/ltGwFTrk1Q
— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) March 18, 2020
