CDC Warning Americans To Start Planning For Spread Of Coronavirus

Source: Tomohiro Ohsumi / Getty

CDC Warning Americans To Start Planning For Spread Of Coronavirus

The CDC is warning Americans to prepare for school closings, workplace shutdowns, cancellations of large events and “disruption of their lives” as the threat of the Coronavirus looms.

Federal health officials made the claim in response to outbreaks of the virus outside China, including in Iran, Japan, South Korea, and Italy, which officials say have raised the likelihood of outbreaks occurring stateside, reports NPR.

“It’s not so much a question of if this will happen anymore, but more really a question of when it will happen — and how many people in this country will have severe illness,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told reporters during a briefing.

“We are asking the American public to work with us to prepare with the expectation that this could be bad,” Messonnier said.

“I had a conversation with my family over breakfast this morning. And I told my children that while I didn’t think that they were at risk right now, we, as a family, need to be preparing for significant disruption of our lives,” she said.

Health officials added that Americans should begin contemplating remote work situations and scenarios where they would need to care for their children at home if daycares and schools are shut down.

In related news, there were also reports that the Coronavirus threat could cause the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games to be CANCELED, but organizers have insisted that preparations for Tokyo 2020 are going ahead “as planned.”

“(We) will continue to collaborate with all relevant organizations which carefully monitor any incidence of infectious diseases and will review any countermeasures that may be necessary with all relevant organizations,” the local Olympic organizing committee said in a statement to CNN Tuesday.

To date, there are reportedly 80,000 people infected with the coronavirus and over 2,600 deaths.