NEW YORK, NEW YORK — A top federal health official is issuing a dire warning: Follow recommended coronavirus measures or risk having the worst fall in US public health history.

Coronavirus has infected more than 5 million people and killed over 166,000 nationwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. On Wednesday alone, there were 55,910 reported new cases and 1,499 deaths — the highest number of fatalities since May.

“For your country right now and for the war that we’re in against Covid, I’m asking you to do four simple things: wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands and be smart about crowds,” said Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“I’m not asking some of America to do it,” he told WebMD. “We all gotta do it.”

Without following the recommendations, this could be “the worst fall, from a public health perspective, we’ve ever had,” he said. In addition to taking measures to combat the pandemic, people should also get a flu vaccine.

“By getting vaccinated, you can protect your children,” he said. “When we look at the mortality that we see with flu, one thing is for certain. The kids that get vaccinated, they basically get protected against death.”

The CDC has bought 10 million doses of the flu vaccine for uninsured adults this year, compared to the typical 500,000 doses.Deaths from the virus have remained high.

The seven-day average of daily coronavirus deaths was over 1,000 on Wednesday, the 17th consecutive day the US averaged over 1,000 deaths per day.

Adjusting for population, states in the Southeast are seeing the most new cases. Georgia and Florida — states led by

Republican governors who have not issued face mask requirements — have the highest per capita new cases over the past seven days, followed by Alabama and Mississippi.

Source: CNN