Dr. Drew Pinsky said the media “should be ashamed of themselves” and suggested they are creating “a panic that is far worse than the viral outbreak” over their coverage of the coronavirus.
“I don’t claim to know what’s motivating the media, but my god, their reporting is absolutely reprehensible,” Pinsky shared during his appearance on Larry O’Connor’s podcast, “Examining Politics,” published Tuesday by the Washington Examiner. (RELATED: Pearl Jam Postpones North American Tour Over Growing Coronavirus Concerns)
My interview with @drdrew is a MUST LISTEN for anyone wanting to cut through the noise we are hearing in the media about #coronavirusus.
It will be available on my daily Examining Politics podcast from @dcexaminer today at 6PM.
— Larry O’Connor (@LarryOConnor) March 10, 2020
“They should be ashamed of themselves,” he added. “They’re creating a panic that is far worse than the viral outbreak. The bottom line everybody is, listen to [Dr.] Anthony Fauci of CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention].” (RELATED: REPORT: Coachella Potentially Rescheduled To October Due To Coronavirus Fears)
Dr. Drew continued, “Do what he tells you and go about your business. That’s the story. Do not be alarmed by the word pandemic, which the CNN reporter seemed to discover this morning.” (RELATED: Here Are The Members Of Congress Self-Quarantining After Meeting Person With Coronavirus At CPAC)
He then went on to explain that the word pandemic means just, “a new virus” and “widespread.” He also shared that 10 years ago we had a similar pandemic called the H1N1 and the world didn’t come to end.
The host then pressed the doctor further, asking if based on what we know now about Covid-19, “who is most in danger” of actually “having severe repercussions” if they contract it.”
“Everybody else it’s going to be a mild issue, like a cold,” Dr. Drew shared. “If you are over the age of 70, maybe the age of 75, particularly if you have any chronic medical conditions and if you are a smoker over 50, you should be behaving differently than the rest of us.”
“The rest of us, go about your business,” he added. “Wash your hands, get your flu shot. That should be the story. Because you are way more likely, orders of magnitude, more likely to die of the flu than the coronavirus.”
Dr. Drew continued, while explaining other than not going “on a cruise ship” or traveling to Italy right now, go about your everyday business.
“And the reality is, look at the numbers in South Korea, it’s a really good example of precisely how it’s going to play out here,” the doctor went on. “The fatality rate of the virus in South Korea was less than one percent.”
“Guess what, the same as the flu,” he added. “So, all these horror stories about lack of ventilators, hospital beds being full, that is total BS.”
The expert shared that the way one can get infected is “essentially the same” as getting the flu and that symptoms include “fever,” “diarrhea” and “cough.”
He suggested, “take yourself out of circulation, if you have any viral illnesses, just in case,” if you have symptoms.
Dr. Drew continued, “Stop listening to journalists. They don’t know what they’re talking about. Listen to CDC, listen to Anthony Fauci. Do not listen to anybody else.”