Hi, I'm Dr. Nancy Messonnier from CDC. As of this morning, March 14th, CDC reported
more than 2,000 cases of COVID-19 and 50 deaths from 49 states and District of
Columbia. Today, I want to talk to you about what you should do if you have
symptoms. Now, some of this depends on what's going on locally so please pay
attention to your local situation. The first thing to know, though, is most
people are going to get exposed to COVID-19 and many people will get sick. But, the
majority of people will recover with only mild illness. So, if you're young and
healthy you might not actually need to see a doctor and you might not need to
get a diagnostic test. There actually isn't a specific treatment for COVID-19
so you really might be able to ride this out at home. If you are older or have
underlying illnesses you need to contact your health care provider who can give
you specific advice about what you should do. And of course if you have
life-threatening illness you should call 9-1-1. It's really
important that we protect those who are most vulnerable to COVID-19 and that's
older adults and people with underlying illnesses. We need to work together to
protect ourselves, our families, and our communities.