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[PBS NewsHour]

WATCH: How Americans And U.S. Lawmakers Can Mitigate COVID-19 Risk

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WASHINGTON, D.C. (NewsHour) — “What we are seeing right now unfolding in the country is what experts said to me a while ago is going to be the darkest part of the pandemic,” Dr. Camara Phyllis Jones said of the spike in coronavirus cases currently occurring across the U.S.

A pharmacist passes syringes from a clean room into the main pharmacy, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020 at Mount Sinai Queens hospital in New York.
A pharmacist passes syringes from a clean room into the main pharmacy, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020 at Mount Sinai Queens hospital in New York. The hospital expects to receive doses once a vaccine gets the emergency green light by U.S. regulators. [AP Photo | Mark Lennihan]
She warned that without proper mitigation efforts in place, the country could be headed for a “worse and worse” outbreak in the coming weeks.

Jones likened the U.S. government’s lagging public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic to a house fire that was never properly contained: “Now we have a whole nation on fire and we haven’t tried to put any lids on it.”

While Americans can do their part to contain the virus by wearing masks and socially distancing, Jones said the government should also take steps to mitigate the worsening spread of COVID-19 by passing legislation to fund more testing and allow non-essential workers to stay home from work with financial support.

Jones, who was formerly the president of the American Public Health Association, spoke with the PBS NewsHour’s Amna Nawaz on Dec. 10 about the coronavirus outbreak and response in the U.S.