- Well tonight the US hasthe dubious distinction
of another world record.
Hitting more than four millioncases of the coronavirus.
- That's right and farsurpassing other nations
and now with more than 147,000people who've contracted
the virus and died.
CBN News White Housecorrespondent, Ben Kennedy,
spoke exclusively withthe US Surgeon General.
Ben, what did he have to say?
- Well, John and Jan, theSurgeon General hit on everything
from the administration'splan to safely reopen schools
and churches to vaccinesand treatments for COVID-19.
Dr. Jerome Adams expectsthings to get worse or stay
at current levels for the time being.
He warns the country can'ttest or treat its way out
of the problem, so it's up to people
to help stop the spread.
- Well, the latest aboutthis virus is that we know
more than ever about howto actually control it.
I talk about the three Ws all the time.
Wash your hands, watch your distance,
and wear a face coveringlike I'm doing right now.
If we do these three things,there's actually data
out there, studies out therenow, that show us that we can
effectively slow the spread of coronavirus
and safely open schools,safely get back to worship.
- Do you think thevirus can be eradicated?
- Well, we don't know about eradication,
but know that we can stampdown the level of spread
enough that we can get backto some sense of normal.
So Italy, for instance, oneof the hardest hit places
in the world, just two months ago.
We were talking about peopledying in hallways in Italy
because the healthcaresystem was overwhelmed.
They're now playing soccer games there.
They're now havingtourism come back again.
They're now opening schools.
This virus course isabout one to two weeks
in the average person.
Which means if you takethe right steps now
to prevent spread as anation, you can see dividends
in as little as two weeks.
We can turn this thingaround very quickly.
There's evidence out there.
- Right now, Dr. Adams, several vaccines
are in human trials.
Do you expect or do youthink we'll see a vaccine
in the fall?
- Well, I talked to Tony Faucievery day or every other day
and he still is very confidentthat we will have a vaccine
by the end of this year orthe beginning of next year.
But I want people tounderstand that's step one.
Less than 50% of adults inthe US get a flu vaccine.
So we can have a vaccine that's safe.
We can have a vaccine that's effective.
But if only half ofAmericans, or even fewer
in certain populations,are accepting of it,
then it's not gonna help them.
We need to work on vaccine confidence.
At last estimate, it wasover 4.2 million children
who were behind on theirvaccinations because of the virus.
So we're worried we'regonna see resurgence of
vaccine-preventable diseaseslike measles, mumps, rubella.
The World Health Organizationactually has looked at this
on a global scale andthey're looking at millions,
potentially, of deaths aroundthe world from the shut down
because people are fallingbehind on both vaccinations
and on diagnosis ofinfectious diseases that go
beyond COVID, like HIV and malaria.
- Right now we are wearing masks.
How important is it for the public
to take the same approach?
- It is incredibly importantthat the public realizes
the importance of wearing face coverings.
This has become politicizedand I think people need
to understand that all politicsaside, all of us benefit
when we wear face coverings.
- Right now lawmakersare working on the next
round of relief.
What would you like to see in the bill?
- We wanna make sure wehave the resources available
from a public health capacityto be able to respond
to this outbreak.
We wanna make sure we haveenough testing available
for people and that we candecrease turnaround times.
And I want the American people know
that we are working on that.
We're increasing availabilityof point of care testing,
which returns results in 15 minutes.
- Do you expect things toget worse in the country
before it gets better?
- Based on the currenttrajectory, we do expect things
to get worse or stay level forawhile, because we know that
cases are the first thing you see.
The second thing you seeare hospitalizations.
The third thing you see are deaths.
- Dr. Adams, you are a religious man.
What is your advice to churches,
to people in places of worship?
- I talk to churches.
I talk to places of worship.
I talk to faith leaders allthe time because they are
in communities, and Ijust wanna applaud them
for being innovative,providing ways to keep people
connected even thoughthey're socially distant.
We know that our worshipis a source of strength
for many of us in trying times.
I really want us to reallyfocus on those public health
measures we can promote thatwill allow us to get back
to in-person worship,
focus on those socialdeterminists of health.
And we know that in manycases, our churches,
our synagogues, are really theplaces that help provide food
when people are hungry,that help provide clothing
when people don't have it,and help provide housing
for the homeless.
We just wanna underscore howimportant those aspects are.
I just ask people in the faithcommunity to continue to pray
for me and to pray for ourleaders and to pray that we have
the wisdom that we needto help fight this virus,
that we have the humilityto understand where we've
been wrong based on what wethought we knew about the virus
and to of course correct, andto pray that we have the words
to be able to help Americansunderstand the role they can
all play and to keepthe politics out of it
because we're all in this together.
Now Dr. Adams said more than50% of COVID cases is spread
by someone with no symptoms.
That's why he keepspleading for the public
to do the three Ws: washhands, watch your distance,
and wear masks.
