As the virus continues to kill Americans at a record clip, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy went on national television on Sunday morning and urged citizens not to get caught up in the euphoria of the coming vaccine, and to follow health officials’ guidelines because the coming weeks “are going to be hell.” So far more than 298,000 people have died of the virus in the U.S., and we are still months away from mass distribution of the vaccine.
“For all the good news, the light at the end of the tunnel — and the vaccine exemplifies that as much as anything — the next number of weeks are going to be hell, I fear,” Murphy said.
The Democratic governor spoke of the dangers that accompany indoor gatherings and begged people to “please God” keep their holiday get-togethers small in size.
“So we’re begging people to please, please, please don’t let your guard down — even when you’re in private settings,” Murphy said, “You know, we think somewhere between 60 to 80 percent of our transmission is in private settings right now. Celebrate holidays small with your immediate family. We know that stinks, but please, God, that’s your down payment for a more normal one next year.”
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy says despite “good news” on a COVID-19 vaccine, “the next number of weeks are going to be hell, I fear, so we’re begging with people to please, please, please don’t let your guard down even when you’re in private settings.” https://t.co/8pO0laHwTB pic.twitter.com/mLMnT29Vg0
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) December 13, 2020
As ABC’s This Week host Martha Raddatz talked about the rising cases nationwide and in the governor’s state, she brought up the chilling statements from the CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield this week. Redfield told the Council on Foreign Relations on Thursday that the mounting daily body count in the coming months will likely top what was seen on “9/11 or Pearl Harbor.”
— PoliticsVideo23 (@politicsvideo23) December 11, 2020
Murphy again, spelled out “the basic stuff” people must do to stay safe, while trying to be optimistic, saying, “We’ll get through this.”
“Social distancing, face coverings, the basic stuff we cannot let up on the next I think six to eight weeks are going to be really challenging, but we’ll get through it. But we got to not let our guard down in the meantime,” the governor said.
