Dr. Birx Calls Florida, Texas and California the 'Three New Yorks'

Three months after New York state became the epicenter of the nation's coronavirus outbreak, the White House's coronavirus task force coordinator, Dr. Deborah Birx, said the country is now facing "three New Yorks."

Birx called upon the American people to behave responsibly during a Today show interview Friday morning and said everyone should assume they have the virus in order to protect those with underlying health conditions and others in vulnerable groups. The U.S., which has more virus cases than any other country, surpassed 4 million cases less than 24 hours before she appeared on the program, just 15 days after reaching the 3 million mark.

Birx said it was important to "change our behavior now" before the virus is able to mount a resurgence in places like New York, where its spread devastated hospitals in late March and April. Because of the intensity of its outbreak, New York was the state with the greatest number of cases until Wednesday, when California surpassed New York's virus case count with more than 400,000. For about three months, New York also held the record for the state with the largest single-day increase in new cases, until Florida broke it on July 12 with 15,299.

"What we have right now are essentially three New Yorks," Birx said. "We're really having to respond as an American people, and that's why you hear us calling for masks and increased social distancing, to really stop the spread of this epidemic."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/dr-birx-calls-florida-texas-and-california-the-three-new-yorks/ar-BB179hL4?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=DELLDHP