Dr. Oz on coronavirus shutdown: Entering a ‘painful period’ but we must give science a ‘chance to win’

Dr. Oz has ‘massive news’ on existing medications to treat COVID-19

Dr. Mehmet Oz discusses coronavirus testing and reveals what two existing medications have proven effective in reducing the viral load in people who have COVID-19

Dr. Mehmet Oz on Friday urged Americans to socially distance themselves in order to limit the number of infections while scientists make the effort to understand how to effectively treat the coronavirus,

“We’re going to go through a painful period. We can do it quickly, we can do it slowly,” Oz told “Fox & Friends.” “When you’re giving someone a shot, you don’t put the needle in really really slowly, it just hurts more for longer. Just thrust the needle in — you’re done. Before they know what happens, the needle is out. Everyone’s happy.”

CORONAVIRUS LEADS SOME OVERSEAS PRISONS TO RELEASE INMATES; RIKERS, OTHER US PRISONS CONSIDER THE SAME

Oz said that though the quarantine period is unclear, he projected that after two weeks, there will be much more insight on “where the United States is headed.”

Oz also said that the upcoming study from Aix Marseille Universite is going to change the perspective on how to treat the coronavirus. The study showed success using hydroxychloroquine, a drug commonly used to treat malaria and autoimmune diseases like lupus, as a treatment to cure the coronavirus.

HOW TO STOP THE SPREAD

“We have to give science a chance to win. … Can you imagine if COVID-19 behaved like the flu virus? Would we be doing this? No, so let’s give science a chance to make this come into fruition,» he said, urging all Americans to socially distance themselves to «bend the curve» on how quickly the virus is spreading.

Oz’s comments came after California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday evening announced he’s enacting a «statewide order» for its nearly 40 million residents to «stay at home,» a wide-reaching measure for the most populous state in the country as the coronavirus spreads.

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The order took effect at midnight Friday. The order prohibits gatherings outside and requires nonessential businesses to close. The measure is intended to slow the spread of the virus. “We need to bend the curve in the state of California,” Newsom said during a news conference. “There’s a social contract here. People, I think, recognize the need to do more. They will adjust and adapt as they have.”