Dr. Ashish Jha: Rising coronavirus numbers in Georgia, Florida, Louisiana are 'making me really worried'
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Parts of the Southeast could be the next epicenter of the coronavirus contagion in the United States, according to Harvard Global Health Institute Director Dr. Ashish Jha.
"I'm looking at the numbers and it's making me really worried," Jha told "Bill Hemmer Reports" Monday of the number of cases in Georgia, Florida and Louisiana.
TEXAS GOV MANDATES QUARANTINE FOR 7 NEW STATES, CITIES
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"We are seeing cases rise quickly across all three states [and] other states as well and what that means is their hospitals are days away -- or at most weeks away -- from getting into the kind of trouble we are seeing in New York."
Earlier Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued stay-at-home orders for the counties of Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe and Palm Beach counties, which he said would remain in effect through the middle of April. As of Monday morning, Florida had recorded 5,473 cases of COVID-19 and 63 deaths.
Last week, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell appeared to place blame for the city's outbreak on President Trump, saying he failed to warn city officials against holding the annual Mardi Gras festival in late February.
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"[T]he city of New Orleans ... plan[s] Mardi Gras as a year-long effort. A part of our unified command is the federal government, [DHS] as well as the FBI," Cantrell said on CNN.
"No red flags were given. So, absolutely, we moved forward."
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As of Monday morning, Louisiana had recorded 4,025 COVID-19 cases and 185 deaths, while Georgia had recorded 2,809 cases and 87 deaths.
Jha also told host Bill Hemmer that he was glad that President Trump had extended the federal coronavirus mitigation guidelines through April 30, calling it a "fact-based, science-based decision."