(CNN) A news conference by two California doctors that downplayed the threat of the coronavirus and made dubious claims that the disease had already spread widely, and therefore was not dangerous, struck a chord with those itching for states to ease stay-at-home orders -- but is being condemned by public health officials and experts.

A widely shared local television video of last week's news conference, which was posted on YouTube, reached more than 5 million views and was amplified by Elon Musk and Fox News, where Dr. Dan Erickson and Dr. Artin Massihi appeared on primetime shows two nights in a row.

The video has since been taken down by YouTube for violating the platform's policy on misinformation, a YouTube spokesperson said.

The doctors, who are not epidemiologists and who own and operate urgent care centers in the Bakersfield area, held the news conference on April 22 to share their conclusions about the results of 5,213 coronavirus tests at their clinics, extrapolating their findings to the California population as a whole.

"Do we need to still shelter in place? Our answer is emphatically no. Do we need businesses to be shut down? Emphatically no. Do we need to test them and get them back to work? Yes, we do," Erickson said at the news conference.