US Surgeon General Jerome Adams has issued a stark warning about the global coronavirus pandemic in a new interview, saying on Monday morning: “I want America to understand: This week, it’s going to get bad.”

Speaking to NBC’s Today, the surgeon general said “we really need to come together as a nation” while discussing reports that showed young people partying during spring break in droves, despite the US Centre for Disease Control and national health experts advising against large gatherings amid the nationwide Covid-19 outbreak.

Though he noted “there are a lot of people who are doing the right things”, the surgeon general added: “Unfortunately, we’re finding out a lot of people think this can’t happen to them.”

He spoke as the US reported over 35,000 cases of the novel virus since confirming its first case on 20 January, and as the national death toll rose to 371. Analysts have suggested the total figures are likely higher due to significant hurdles the country faced in distributing Covid-19 testing kits during the initial weeks of the outbreak.

“We don’t want Dallas, or New Orleans, or Chicago to turn into the next New York,” he said, acknowledging the state facing the most confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country. “It means that everyone needs to be taking the right steps, right now.”

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He added: “That means stay at home.”

Led by Vice President Mike Pence, the White House coronavirus response task force has urged Americans to self-isolate and stay at home for 15 days in order to slow the spread of transmissions while announcing a slate of measures to ramp up the nation’s testing abilities and hospital capacities.

However, experts have warned the country will likely need much longer in order to truly combat the virus and to ensure hospitals nationwide do not become inundated as the system potentially reaches overcapacity due to an influx of Covid-19 patients.

The surgeon general himself said last week that the 15 day initiative “is likely not going to be enough” to prevent the outbreak from continuing.

It remains unclear what new guidelines Donald Trump’s administration may release after the 15 day initiative ends. On Monday, the president retweeted statements like “Flatten the curve NOT the economy” and “15 days, then we keep the high risk groups protected as necessary and the rest of us go back to work”.