Dr. Oz says Americans have 'gotten sloppy' against COVID-19: 'The virus is not done with us yet'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Dr. Mehmet Oz said on Thursday that people have “gotten sloppy” with some of their precautions against COVID-19 and warned that “the virus is not done with us yet.”
“We got a bunch of folks who are rebellious, frustrated, they’ve been locked up for a long time, especially young people, and we’ve gotten sloppy as you see,” Oz told “Fox & Friends” on Thursday.
He went on to say that “we want to go back to a new normal,” but “he virus is not done with us yet so we got to keep battling it.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He explained that “this is especially a problem among our young folks.”
Oz said the average age of infection is “about 35, half the age of what it was early in the pandemic,” which he said shows that “the vulnerable people, the people who are overweight, hypertensive, diabetic or older are staying away from the opening process.”
“But the younger people, because they’re frustrated, they’re hanging out with each other, they’re going out to meet new people and we cannot afford to let our guard down right now because reversing the trend gets a lot tougher once the virus is widely present,” he continued.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}US CORONAVIRUS DEATHS PROJECTED TO REACH 180,000 BY OCTOBER
Oz made the comments as several states, including Florida and Arizona, are experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases.
Public health experts said the surge in Arizona reflects the state’s rapid reopening. Last Wednesday, COVID-19 cases by day spiked to more than 3,000, the largest daily increase since the pandemic began in the U.S., according to data from Arizona’s Department of Health.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This week, Florida saw a record number of coronavirus cases, according to the state Department of Health. As of Thursday, Florida’s Department of Health is reporting more than 109,000 coronavirus cases since the pandemic began.
Speaking from New York, Oz said hospitals in Florida are “starting to fill up.”
He noted that ICU’s in Arizona are at “over 80 percent capacity” and those in Florida are “filling up.” He added that Texas is also “having issues.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“So let’s intervene now before exponential growth gets out of control,” Oz said.
He pointed out that although the number of cases is “going up dramatically, we are still not seeing a significant increase in deaths.”
He said “that might just be because we haven’t been out far enough or it might be because it’s mostly younger people and they know they’re not as vulnerable.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Oz went on to say since the virus “tends to spread rapidly,” it’s important to wear a mask when in public because it will prevent people “from getting what you’ve got.”
“Obviously, if you can stay outside that would be great, in particular, avoid the super spreader events, big crowds,” Oz said, adding that following what’s called the “6/15 rule” is important. Oz explained that means stay “six feet away from people or stay under 15 minutes if you are closer than that.”
He stressed that “no one is immune.”
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“Don’t be near other people in large groups or you’ll give to it people you love,” Oz said.
Fox News’ Kayla Rivas and Ann Schmidt contributed to this report.