Dr. Birx: 'No State, No Metro Area Will be Spared'

Doctor Deborah Birx, the response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, is encouraging leaders in every state and metro area to prepare for a coronavirus outbreak like the one currently taking place in New York.

"No state, no metro area will be spared," Dr. Birx told NBC's Chuck Todd during an interview on "Meet the Press" on Sunday, "and the sooner we react and the sooner the states and the metro areas react and ensure they put in full mitigation at the same time understanding exactly what their hospitals need, then we'll be able to move forward together and protect the most Americans."

"If they mitigate now before they start seeing cases in the emergency room and in the hospital," Dr. Birx continued, "once you see those, the virus has been spreading for days and weeks, so this is really my call on every mayor to prepare now."

The NBC host asked Dr. Birx if she thought domestic air travel should be restricted as a further measure to contain the outbreak of the Wuhan coronavirus. Dr. Birx said she was heartened to see communities practicing self-isolation and self-quarantining without any restrictions on domestic air travel imposed by the federal government.

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