Dr. Drew Pinsky, also known as “Dr. Drew”, slammed the national news media for overreacting to the Coronavirus, leading people to panic buy food and medical supplies.
“We’re not overreacting, the press is overreacting, and it makes me furious,” Dr. Drew said during an appearance on Daily Blast Live last month.
“The press should not be reporting medical stories as though they know how to report it,” he continued.
“If we have a pandemic, I won’t know how to tell that we’re actually having a pandemic because everything is an emergency.”
“The press needs to shut up because you’re more likely to die of influenza right now.”
In a follow-up call to Daily Blast Live this week, Dr. Drew questioned why the press is ignoring the flu epidemic that killed 16,000 people so far.”
“Let me frame it this way: We have in the United States 24 million cases of flu-like illness, 180,000 hospitalizations, 16,000 dead from influenza. Why is that not being reported? Why isn’t the message: get your flu shot?”
“There are people walking around out there with the virus that don’t even know they have it it’s so mild,” said Dr. Drew.
“Where was the press during the Mediterranean corona[virus] outbreak where the fatality rate was 41%? If they wanted to get crazed about something, why didn’t they get crazed about MERS or SARS? This is an overblown press-created hysteria.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on Wednesday confirmed “the more elderly and medically frail” are the ones more likely to “succumb” to the virus.
During an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom” Azar said, “For most of us, the risk of getting the Coronavirus is low and it remains that way. We’re learning more every day, every hour.”
Most healthy people who get the Coronavirus will have mild to moderate symptoms. Azar cautioned those with respiratory symptoms to stay home and wash your hands for 20 seconds with soap and water.
The people most at risk are the elderly population and those with weak immune systems or chronic illnesses.
