Surgeon General: COVID-19 Crisis This Week Will "Be Our 9/11 Moment"

WASHINGTON -- The coronavirus is a generational moment in history, says Dr. Jerome Adams.

"(This week) is going to be our Pearl Harbor moment," The surgeon general said on NBC's "Meet The Press" Sunday. "This is going to be our 9/11 moment."

He advises Hoosiers and all Americans alike not to get lax as executive orders to ensure social distancing measures are followed enter their third week. This week the state of Indiana could start seeing the first signs of the long-anticipated peak of the virus, even though the peak is not expected to happen for at least another week.

According to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, an independent global health research center at the University of Washington, The United States is expected to see the coronavirus peak on April 15th. Indiana will see its peak two days later on April 17th.

At the time of the peak in Indiana, IHME predicts the state would be seeing a small stretch of over 90 people dying per day. The institute predicts that once the dust settles Indiana could see over 1,600 Hoosiers die as a result of the coronavirus.

"It's going to be the hardest moment for many Americans in their entire lives," Adams continued. "If we want to 'flatten that curve' and make it out to the other side, everyone is going to have to do their part."

Some good news from Adams, your former state health commissioner, is some states are starting to see the spread of the virus to start to slow down a little bit. He said states like California and Washington state are starting to "level off." Although IHME expects California to peak at around the same time as Indiana.

Adams is now advising that you wear a mask if you have to go out and about until further notice. He said if you aren't able to buy one, whether they be unavailable or you can't find them, you can make easily make one out of an old t-shirt of a bandana.