The Surgeon General appealed to Kylie Jenner on Thursday morning to tell her millennial and Gen Z followers to stay at home as the country frantically tries to fight coronavirus, after new data emerged which suggests young people are far more vulnerable to the deadly pandemic than previously thought.
In an appearance on Good Morning America, Surgeon General Jerome Adams said the country needed social media influencers like Jenner to use their platforms to get through to young people who are not all heeding government advice.
It came after disturbing photographs and videos emerged of teenagers and young adults flocking to the beaches of Florida for Spring Break, gathering in groups and twerking despite the entire world being on the brink of shut-down and thousands dying with no cure on the horizon.
Startling new data released on Wednesday night shows 29 percent of the first 2,500 cases of coronavirus in the US were people between the ages of 20 and 44. Of that number, 20 percent were hospitalized and 12 percent needed to be put in intensive care units. An enormous 55 percent of the cases were all under the age of 65.
That frightening data goes against the previously held notion many young people relied on to not worry about the virus – that they were immune to it and that it only seriously affected the old and sickly.
Dr. Adams, making an impassioned plea on Thursday, said: ‘I have a 15 and 14 year old and the more I tell them not to do something, the more they want to do it.
‘What I really think we need to do was get our influencers – Kevin Durant, Donavan Mitchell, we need to get Kylie Jenner and social media influencers out there, in helping folks understand: this is serious – people are dying out there.
‘We have data emerging from Italy that suggests young people may be at higher risk than we previously thought. But think about your grandfather, the fact you’re spreading disease that could ultimately be what kills them,’ he said.
Scroll down for video
Surgeon General Jerome Adams has pleaded with stars like Kylie Jenner to use their vast social media platforms to tell young people to stay at home and quarantine to fight the spread of coronavirus
Jenner has been self-quarantining for eight days and has already appealed to her 166million Instagram followers to do the same, as have countless other public figures and celebrities.
On Wednesday, she uploaded an Instagram story with the warning: ‘Another daily reminder to take this social distancing serious and self-quarantine.’
Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant has tested positive for the virus, along with three of his teammates, as has Utah Jazz player Donovan Mitchell.
Despite them repeatedly telling their fans to stay at home and socially distance themselves, thousands are still going out.
In Florida, Spring Breakers had to be broken up by police this week. It not only puts them and their families at risk, but also the first responders whose time could be used elsewhere.
The Surgeon General said on Thursday that America is trying to avoid becoming Italy, where the ‘worst case scenario’ is playing out with the entire country now in its 10th day of lockdown.
Hospitals are bursting at the seams with patients and the death toll – now more than 2,000 – keeps increasing.
Harrowing video footage of army trucks transporting the bodies of the dead out of one town is putting into stark reality how lethal the virus us.
Thousands of people descended on Florida’s beaches this week despite being warned to stay home
The young crowds posed next to each other without care. Experts say many now likely are carrying the virus and could pass it on to someone more vulnerable who may die from it
Jenner, like countless other influencers and stars, has been telling fans to stay home and heed the official advice
There are now nearly 10,000 cases of coronavirus in the US and it is fast spreading, with 152 deaths as of Thursday
The United States is only around 11 days behind Italy in the growth of new cases and officials are desperate to avoid a similar scenario unfolding here.
There are increasing calls for President Trump to issue a national shut down but he is resisting at all costs in order to keep the few businesses open that can remain open, and allow people to feed themselves.
BEING YOUNG WON’T SAVE YOU: HARROWING NEW CORONAVIRUS DATA
Data released by the CDC on Wednesday night paints a harrowing new picture of the coronavirus pandemic, with 55 percent of the first 2,500 cases in America being people under the age of 65.
Nearly 30 percent of the first 2,500 cases of coronavirus were people between the ages of 20 and 44.
Of that number, 20 percent were hospitalized and 12 percent needed to be put in intensive care units.
It has also emerged that a one-month-old baby and 14-year-old in China died of the virus.
That contradicts the previously held notion that children were not at great risk.
Now, the government is telling everyone now to stay at home for 15 days, fervently wash their hands and avoid coming into contact with anyone who may be susceptible to the virus.
Dr. Adams told the entire nation to presume they have the virus – and handle others as if they do too.
‘In America, most of our authority lies at the state level.
‘Some states have been really aggressive, some not so much – that’s why the president put out the guidelines earlier this week – to say look America, everyone needs to hold off non-essential travel.
‘Everyone needs to stay home from work if they can. Everyone has to be in gatherings of 10 or less.
‘If we all do that, across the country, then we can have our trajectory like China. Good news out of China last night – no new reported domestic cases,’ Dr. Adams said on Thursday.
‘Every model you have has a best case scenario and worst case scenario. Italy looks like the worst case scenario. That’s why we are ringing the alarm.
‘That’s why we are telling America to take this seriously but we have a better case scenario. China is reassuring.
‘China shows us that if we do this, then in 6-8 weeks we will hit our peak and start to come back down again. While I’ve got you- did you see I sent out a safe hands challenge to you on Twitter?
‘We need to make sure people understand right now that the two best things you can do to protect your community are good hygiene and social distancing. Stay off the beaches.
‘We’ve got 300million plus people in this country. Little things you do add up to big things over time.
‘If you are negligent if you don’t have good hygiene, if you go out and spread disease then it can add up over time but good behaviors add up over time.
‘I want everyone to act as if you have the virus,’ he warned.
A medical worker in Italy treats patients with coronavirus. The US is just 11 days before Italy and is frantically trying to stop the virus spreading
How coronavirus has killed three members of a New Jersey family, left four in critical condition and 20 quarantined: Grandmother, 73, and her eldest two children pass away just days apart after getting infected during dinner with relatives
The matriarch of a New Jersey family has become the third relative to die after she was hospitalized with the novel coronavirus.
Grace Fusco, 73, died Wednesday night, just hours after her son, Carmine Fusco, passed away from COVID-19.
Carmine, a horse racing trainer, died on Wednesday morning, Roseann Paradiso Fodera, a cousin and family attorney, told NJ Advance Media.
His sister and Grace’s daughter, Rita Fusco-Jackson, 55, died five days ago. She had also tested positive for the virus.
Fodera said Grace died after spending Wednesday ‘gravely ill’ and breathing with help from a ventilator.
Grace died without knowing her two oldest children had passed away before she did.
Grace Fusco (center in white), 73, died Wednesday night, just hours after her son, Carmine Fusco, passed away from COVID-19
Four other family members remain hospitalized at CentraState Medical Center in New Jersey, all with COVID-19 – the disease caused by the virus – and four in critical condition.
Another 20 family members are quarantined at their homes.
Fusco-Jackson’s sister, Elizabeth Fusco, told told NJ Advance Media: ‘This has been devastating for all of us.
Carmine Fusco, passed away from COVID-19
‘Our hearts are broken over losing our sister, Rita. We just need help in saving our family members with life-saving medication.’
At the time of the interview, her brother, Carmine, was in critical condition at Luke’s University Hospital-Bethlehem Campus in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, before dying on Wednesday morning.
Fodera, the family attorney, said the situation is ‘surreal’.
‘To imagine a week ago to get a phone call like this – if someone told me this story, I wouldn’t believe it,’ she told NJ Advance Media. ‘It’s inconceivable to me.’
According to Elizabeth, the victims’ sister, 19 spouses and children of the hospitalized family members are awaiting coronavirus test results.
The deaths within the family are connected to John Brennan, 69, a horse trainer who lived in Little Ferry and was the first New Jersey resident to die after testing positive for the virus.
Brennan had reportedly attended a recent Fusco family gathering, according to the state’s health commissioner.
Fodera told The New York Times that the gathering was a routine dinner on a Tuesday.
That particular gathering is believed to be the source of the virus.
Brennan was hospitalized at Hackensack University Medical Center before passing away, NJ Advance Media reported.
He had multiple underlying health conditions, including diabetes, high blood pressure and emphysema, putting him at higher risk of death.
State officials says he was revived on March 9 after going into cardiac arrest, but died on March 10 after suffering a second cardiac arrest.