Sen. Cotton: Everyone needs to follow government guidance

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Sen. Cotton: Everyone needs to follow government guidance

Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton weighs in on COVID-19 response from federal and local governments.

This is a rush transcript from "Your World," March 16, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

NEIL CAVUTO, ANCHOR: All right, the president making it clear that he's doing and the administration is doing everything in its power to stay on top of this coronavirus.

But if you're wondering what was happening at the corner of Wall and Broad and why we were down about 3,000 points, the single biggest point hit in market history, and certainly the worst throughout this crisis, in percentage terms, at close to 13 percent, it was the biggest since the October 19, 1987, crash, when we lost about 24 percent of the Dow's value in a single day.

The precipitant for that -- and it was down all day, I must stress, throughout this crisis -- but the understanding and at least the belief on the part of the president and his task force here that this could linger, that is, the coronavirus crisis, that it could linger until August.

Now, that surprised a lot of folks, who were looking at some light at the end of the tunnel as soon as April or May, and at the latest June. That caught a number of people off-guard, as did the administration's plan to drastically shrink the number of public locales you should be looking at down the road, limiting it to no more than 10 people.

Nevertheless, this just reigniting concerns that this is a situation that they're really looking to try to get under control, and soon.

In the meantime, please stay tuned to Fox News Channel and this Fox station. I'm Neil Cavuto in New York.

All right, now, the White House has made it clear its recommendations to combat the coronavirus. But it was the revelation that this could look linger, according to the president, into August that cut people short. And they didn't have any idea that this could drag on that long.

Now, there's really no way of knowing for sure, but if it were to linger until August, that would mean that the ongoing closure of restaurants and theaters, the delay in baseball, basketball, all of that might be dragged on into other venues, other sports, other social gatherings, at first limited to 50 people, now in the eyes administration, maybe 10 people

Stocks cratering on all this news today. On percentage terms, it's the second biggest hit we have seen in market history, the biggest one on October 19, 1987, but in point terms, the worst ever.

Is the market overreacting? That's not for us to judge right now. But the administration is trying to get in front of all of this, and say that it has the means and the resources to help all Americans, as long as they follow those rules.

To John Roberts at the White House with some of them -- John.

JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You know, Neil, I was talking to White House officials earlier today, before the president came out.

And they said what you're going to hear from the president today in that briefing will sound alarming. But it's the idea that these are aggressive steps that they have to take in order to bend that curve of infection, to stop the coronavirus from spreading in ways that it might if it were uncontrolled, if we didn't take these steps, and that the mortality rate could increase because of it.

The message coming from the White House today was, these are going to be aggressive measures, but don't panic.

And I asked the president at the beginning of this, when he started taking questions, how long he thinks that people in the United States might be dealing with this. Here's what he told me:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It seems to me that, if we do a really good job, we will not only hold the death down to a level that is much lower than the other way had we not done a good job, but people are talking about July, August, something like that.

So, it could be right in that period of time, where I say wash -- it washes through. Other people don't like that term -- but where it washes through.

ROBERTS: So, is this the new normal until the height of the summer?

TRUMP: We will see what happens, but they think August. Could be July. Could be longer than that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Now, a lot of people took a look at that and swallowed hard and said, oh, my God, we could be dealing with these restrictions until July later, or August even.

Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease, later came up and said, well, wait a second here. We're talking about these guidelines, these strict guidelines now. Those are on a beginning 14-day period. We don't think that those are going to last until the height of the summer.

That's when we will probably finally finish out dealing with this virus, at least for this season, but not that these restrictions will go into effect or stay in effect that long.

The president also talked about a request from the airlines for an initial $25 billion from passenger airlines, $4 billion from cargo airlines, to help them get through this crisis. The president said that we will support the airlines.

He said that the United States may be headed for a recession. But he said it wouldn't be a prolonged one, that we are poised to, when this is all over and this washes out, bounce back in ways that we likely haven't seen before.

And as to these rumors that have been spreading around about the potential for a national quarantine, the president said that's not something that we're thinking about right now. But, of course, states and local communities, Neil, are taking certain actions that fall short of a quarantine, but certainly are these aggressive measures that the president and many of the nation's governors believe need to be taken in order to stem the spread of this virus and to lower the rate -- Neil.

CAVUTO: All right, thank you very much, John Roberts, at the White House.

So, to bring you up to date on this, with the roughly 3,000-point sell-off on the Dow today, think about where we were roughly a month ago on the Dow, when it was flirting with 30000. It has essentially lost a third of its value from those highs since that time, and that despite the fact that we have had the Federal Reserve doing everything in its power to deal with this, including dramatically cutting interest rates.

In little more than a week, we have seen interest rates collapse about 150 basis points, or one-and-a-half points. And think about this. As recently as late August, we had interest rates, overnight bank lending rates, called federal funds rates, at around 2 to 2.25, 2.5 percent. They have effectively been reduced to zero.

And yet we have gotten no bang for the buck on this. And, again, Wall Street could be overstating this, overdoing this, but it tends to sell first, ask questions later. It doesn't take much to agitate this.

But it is responding to the course of this coronavirus, not necessarily the economic impact from this coronavirus. That's an important distinction, because it's the virus itself and how much it's spreading and mutating and concerns about whether any vaccine is imminent or tests are even imminent - - one of the biggest developments today was the thought of a vaccine test being registered today.

That was not enough to dissuade people that this uncertainty hangs over the market, where the deaths over the last few days in Italy alone have topped better than 600.

Meanwhile, the effect on the economy and on those who are afraid to go out and shop is being felt across the country.

Susan Li at an Apple store in New York City on the fallout -- Susan.

SUSAN LI, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Black Monday in 1987, some might call this a black Monday in 2020, biggest points move in Wall Street history, triggering only the third trading halt since 1997, but the third in a week's time.

Now, the Federal Reserve trying to reassure markets by cutting interest rates close to zero, injecting $700 billion into the economy. Instead of instilling assurances, they basically caused a lot of panic amongst the investing community.

Financials being the big drag today, financials being lowered because they can't make much money on close to zero percent interest rates. You saw the likes of J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo selling off.

Airlines, as you heard from John Roberts, possibly asking Washington, D.C., for $50 billion in assistance in the form of cash grants or government- backed loans. We know that airlines have been one of the hardest-hit sectors as the results of this coronavirus spread.

And it looks like they are now asking for assistance in order to move forward.

Now, as you mentioned, I am standing in front of the Fifth Avenue flagship store of Apple, Apple announcing over the weekend that they're closing all stores outside of China until March 27. And that's because of quarantines and to keep employees safe.

They are not the only retailer and the big American company to do so. Nike says they are closing doors until the 27, Lululemon, Under Armour, Anthropologie among some of the retailers that have also made similar announcements as well.

Now, with this 3,000-point slide, we are deeper into bear market territory. That means 20 percent down from recent peaks. For the S&P 500, we have seen 13 bear markets over the past 93 years. Eleven of those 13 have resulted in a recession.

The one outlier here, 1987, and that's the comparison that these markets are being made to in 2020 -- Neil.

CAVUTO: All right, Susan, thank you very much.

Now, we get this back-and-forth talk about recessions and whether we're looking at one or already in one.

The folks at Goldman Sachs are saying, we're going to be looking at a 5 percent contraction in the very quarter we're in. J.P. Morgan Chase, another investment bank, saying 2 percent in this quarter, another decline of 3 percent in the second quarter.

That's all on paper from firms that necessarily weren't prescient on dealing with the bull run that we had in this market, before the sudden collapse in the last month.

Let's get the read on all of this from Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cot -- I'm sorry -- Tom Cotton. I lost my space there.

I'm sorry, Senator. Thank you for having us.

Let me get one quick take from you. It seems that a recession is unavoidable. Are you worried that it lingers?

SEN. TOM COTTON, R-ARK.: Neil, I'm worried first and foremost about the public health of the American people.

Of course, the best way to end the recession that probably started two months ago in China, and then swept its way around the world, is to stop the spread of this virus.

If we do that, the economy will heal, and the markets will come back.

CAVUTO: I think you're right about that.

Senator, I'm curious, though. I mean, not a lot of the political squabbling at least has ebbed a little bit. It's been toned down. People are trying to get on the same page on all of this, the administration arguing that it is doing everything in its power to protect the American people, including this latest suggestion to limit gatherings to no more than 10 people.

What do you think of that?

COTTON: So, Neil, I think the time has come for extraordinary measures.

So, I would suggest everyone follow the guidance that President Trump just announced in your local communities or your states. If your governor or your mayor has expressed even sterner guidance, I would follow those as well.

I think we need to be prepared for whatever you might call it, a quarantine, a shutdown, a curfew, et cetera. We need to be prepared for a situation where the only people going to work should be those providing essential services, food, medicine, electricity, water, sanitation, and so forth.

CAVUTO: Senator, are you worried that some of the ideas being bandied about -- and all with good intentions -- to either help the airline industry, to help businesses, and the rest, and the fact that it is not necessarily going to get people who are hunkering down in their homes, even talk of a payroll tax, that that might be welcome for some, but might not incentivize them enough to leave those homes, because they're scared of this thing?

COTTON: Yes, Neil, I think the relief needs to be focused directly on affected workers and their families.

That's one reason why I think the House bill shouldn't pass the Senate as written. It doesn't go far enough, and it doesn't go fast enough. We have systems in place, like the unemployment insurance system, that can get checks out to affected workers immediately.

We can treat them as if they are unemployed, if they have got the virus or they have been quarantined, their business has been furloughed, either at the decision of local authorities, with so many restaurants and bars, or the business owner, or, for that matter, if they're like so many Arkansans today having to stay home from work because their child's school has closed.

We need to focus on getting cash and the equivalent of cash into the hands of those workers and their families, so that they can buy groceries and pay the bills for the short duration that the most intense phase of this crisis will likely last in the coming weeks.

CAVUTO: Do you worry, though, that it accelerates of its own, and so does the fear, whether justified or not? I'm not talking about Wall Street.

I'm about people, now we're hearing, particularly in New York, where all school systems have been shut down, echoing what's happening across the country, where 11 million kids are now handling things remotely from their homes.

It occurs at a time where restaurants, bars and the like are forced to all but shut down, and then serve only takeout and delivery.

I'm wondering, what you see being the multiplier effect here?

COTTON: Well, I think the multiplier effect could be pretty severe.

But if we take these extraordinary measures, painful though they may be, hardships though they may be, though they may impose, it will arrest the spread of the virus more quickly.

And that's ultimately the way we get the economy back on its feet and we get markets back, is to stop the spread of the virus.

It's better to be accused of overreacting in retrospect than underreacting. Look at what's happened in Italy. Two weeks ago, Italians were sitting in cafes, sipping wine and coffee. Today, elderly Italians are being denied care and administered last rites because their health care system is completely overtaxed.

We can avoid that fate here if we act quickly now.

CAVUTO: All right, Senator, thank you very, very much, Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, joining us from Washington, D.C.

The senator was referring to what's happening in Italy right now, that all of a sudden has become ground zero in this coronavirus issue here. In fact, the rate of deaths there accelerating what has been happening in China at its worst levels.

In just the past two days, better than 600 have died there. And a lot of the criticism early on is that the Italians were slow to respond to separating people, or at least avoiding congregations of people. It might be too late there, as they try to get it under control.

But the fact of the matter is, it is an area that whipsaws the world and concerns about a slowdown everywhere.

Ron Kruszewski is the CEO of Stifel Financial. He joins us right now.

Ron, the priority obviously has to be to get this whole virus under control. I suspect that, and only that, and not any Federal Reserve intervention, not necessarily any fiscal stimulus, is going to change that.

What do you think?

RONALD KRUSZEWSKI, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, STIFEL: Well, exactly.   I mean, I think you saw the market sell off when it was interpreted that this current situation regarding quarantine or restaurants closing would go on to August.

I think that the question that the market is trying to understand is, how long will these measures be in place to arrest the spread of the coronavirus?

It's the question that, if you could answer, you would point to a bottom in this market. But no one can answer today.

CAVUTO: I know it's like being a Monday-morning quarterback, but do you think that the Federal Reserve and what it did to dramatically cut interest rates back to where they were in the depths of the financial crisis, that they needlessly shot the last arrows in their quiver?

KRUSZEWSKI: Look, what the Fed did, the markets need liquidity. The markets...

CAVUTO: Right.

KRUSZEWSKI: ... need to make sure that we don't add financial -- the gears of the financial system locking up to this issue.

But make no mistake about it. The Fed cutting interest rates really does nothing to help demand. And what we have here is a demand problem. Because the Fed cut interest rates doesn't mean that the NCAA Tournament is going to go on.

CAVUTO: Yes.

KRUSZEWSKI: What is going to make people get back together, it has nothing to do with the Fed. The Fed will help. It will help in the recovery.

But let's understand, at least from my perspective, what we need is information. We need people to get tested. We need to understand what the outcomes are, so that the American people are -- today, everyone's assuming the worst. I'm not saying that that is an incorrect assumption by human beings.

However, look what they have done in South Korea. They're testing everyone. They're understanding what outcomes are. And that's what we need to do.

If I -- if I could test everyone at Stifel, I would do it tomorrow, everyone. I wouldn't say, oh, just, if you're sick, test.

So I think that what will happen here is, you will see the markets and the people start congregating again once we get more information.

CAVUTO: Right.

They just have to calm down. They need that. They need that information. They don't have it yet.

The Dow down about 3,000 points.

More after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: You're looking live in Tallahassee, Florida.

We're waiting to hear from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. He is going to spell out what they're doing there and to deal with this coronavirus situation and how they're going to handle the Florida primary, which we're told it's still on for tomorrow.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, welcome back, everyone.

You know the drill by now. When it rains, it pours.

And the latest on the coronavirus situation is that, when it comes to public or crowds of any sort gathering, they're getting smaller and smaller, and even the small crowds, well, they're going to find it tough to find a place to gather, whether you're talking restaurants or bars, shopping malls, movie theaters.

It will trickle down to a few. The president ratcheting that number down to no more than 10 individuals, advising against crowds larger than that gathering anywhere. And I mean anywhere.

On the phone with us right now, former H.P. CEO and presidential candidate Carly Fiorina.

Carly, very good to have you. Thanks for taking the time.

CARLY FIORINA, FORMER HEWLETT-PACKARD CEO: Thank you for having me, Neil.

CAVUTO: How would you guide people through this? You know what happened on Wall Street today. And I know it tends to get a little dramatized by what's happening, and it sells first, ask questions later.

But I really seem to think that it hinges or reacts to any progress, or fears of lack of progress, on battling this thing. What do you think?

FIORINA: Well, I do think that the market today, prior to the beginning of the president's press conference, was, as you well know, down almost 10 percent all day.

CAVUTO: You're right.

FIORINA: And I think what that reflects is the dawning reality for everyone, the market, the administration, all of us, businesses across the country, that this is a very serious situation, and it is an unprecedented situation.

We're living now with a highly contagious disease about which we don't know enough. And so I think that reality is beginning to settle in.

And the markets respond the way they do, obviously, because it means, as you have been saying on your show today, demand just falls off the cliff.

That's real, and it's not going to go away in the short term. And I think that's what you see markets reacting to. Yes, July and August was sort of a surprising point. And so they sold off further.

CAVUTO: Right.

FIORINA: But this is a global pandemic that is highly contagious, about which we don't know as much as we could, if we had experience with it.

For example, in the middle of this press conference, Dr. Birx said, well, we now know that this virus lives on surfaces for up to three days. Well, that's a relevant fact that we didn't know...

CAVUTO: That's right...

FIORINA: ... two weeks ago.

CAVUTO: I guess what I'm wondering is, and we have had crises in this country before, and we have more than handled them and come out the better for them, and it's a character-building, uniquely American achievement sometimes.

But I'm wondering, in this case, the duration of it, Carly, that this could drag on, if the president's right, and deferring to his medical team, that this could go potentially until July or August, a little longer than folks thought.

Forget about the markets. I mean, they have a history of coming back. I suspect they will, but average folks who are hunkered down in their homes, who are now homeschooling their kids, or at least trying to coach them to deal with online classes, it's a whole different matter, right?

FIORINA: Yes, it is.

And I think I would divide the problem-solving process here into a couple steps. Number one, in the immediate term, of course, everyone is focused on, how do I ensure that my family is safe?

If you're a small business owner, a restauranteur, a large business owner, how do I ensure that my employees are safe? That is everyone's immediate concern.

The next short-term way of thinking about this is to start planning. What will I do if this continues for two weeks, four weeks, six weeks, eight weeks?

CAVUTO: Right.

FIORINA: People are at their worst when they don't know things, when they're not planning.

And there's a lot we don't know. But we can begin to plan ahead. What does my business look like two weeks from now, four weeks from now, six weeks from now? What does my family look like?

So, begin to think through some scenarios. The human brain, being the way it is, human nature what it is, it is the unknown that fills us with fear and dread. And so fill that void with some planning.

However, that also puts a great burden on leadership to tell the truth, to get all the facts out. There is nothing more damaging right now than giving people rosy scenarios, and then having to change them two days later.

Better to be complete and candid and comprehensive and truthful, and tell people what we know, what we don't know. Allow them to plan for the worst. And then, as our planning kicks in, as our preparedness kicks in, then the best will come out of people.

CAVUTO: Well said.

Carly Fiorina, thank you very much. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.

CAVUTO: All right, I want to take you to Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City right now.

He isn't informing reporters right now of his decision to shut down New York City schools and all of those kids now who are going to be being helped out at home with their parents. But that is going to be obviously a raucous adjustment for a lot of folks.

He had been fielding questions as well about whether more extensive measures are going to be taken, besides his move to shut down pretty much all the restaurants and bars and limit them to just delivery and takeout orders.

More after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: What's Italian for getting used to it?

Many in Italy right now having life under lockdown, as the number of coronavirus cases there continues to surge.

Amy Kellogg is in Florence, Italy, with the very latest there.

Hey, Amy.

AMY KELLOGG, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Neil, well, the plight of doctors here is becoming as dramatic as the plight of the patients.

Twelve percent of the doctors in Lombardy, which is the Milan area, that northern region, are infected with coronavirus now, 2,000 medical workers across the country.

So the Red Cross today issued an urgent plea for new doctors. Now, one -- nearly one-third of the coronavirus deaths worldwide have been in Italy. Bergamo is the worst-hit in this country. They're talking about a whole generation being wiped out. Funerals are banned in this period.

But coffin after coffin have been seen brought to the churches ahead of quick burials and cremations. Pope Francis slipped out of confinement yesterday to pray for an end to this pandemic at a Rome chapel with a special crucifix brought there to end the plague of Rome in 1522.

Venice eerily empty. The murky waters are running clear, something tourists would pay to see, but can't.

Meantime, the best of people can be seen in flashes of light across the country. Flash mobs organized nightly on balconies. This one saw cell phones -- quote -- "lighting up Italy."

And the prime minister today, Neil, announced some emergency measures, 28 billion in relief for the health care service, for families for small businesses. And he's talk -- he's talking about opening a $390 billion line of credit for whatever comes down the pike -- Neil.

CAVUTO: Amy Kellogg, thank you very much, my friend.

Well, it's not just Italy. Countries around the world continuing to see spikes in COVID-19 cases.

Bill Hemmer here to break down where those cases seem to be piling up.

Hey, Bill.

BILL HEMMER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Hey, Neil. Good afternoon to you.

I'm going to give you a lot of information here. Just hang with me. This is the map that's from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. We're using this, along with our FOX News reporters, the CDC, the World Health Organization, Associated Press, to try and crunch the numbers and give you a sense of what's happening here and overseas and all over the world.

You will see different numbers in different places. This is the best we can do at the moment in terms of narrowing this down. You see 181,000, globally. Neil, you see 78,000 recovered. We really like to see that number.

But, just today, we went over 7,000 total deaths around the world.

On the map here, the U.S. ranks eighth. As of right now -- so you're coming up on 5:00 East Coast time, Neil -- now you have got 4,287 confirmed cases here in the United States.

Now, I'm going to show you something I think is very important to understand about how this virus moves, travels. Give me a moment here. This will pop up in a second here. This is a graph that I think is critical.

You're seeing three different lines here, OK? This starts, Neil, on January 20. It runs to March 15. So you got about a two-month block here. This is China as it moves and then starts to flatten out. This is every country outside of China.

That is not -- that is not where we want to go, straight up towards the sky. This is the number that have been -- that have recovered thus far. And so we really want to get this line here, Neil, moving more like we did here in China.

I will just pop out of here a moment. Just hang with me, Neil. And I will change this graphic a moment here. OK.

Three weeks ago today -- we focused on four countries, China, around Italy, and the United States. Three weeks ago today -- and I can take you through the progression and let you know how the numbers have increased. I just want you to look at China right now, 77,000, 78,000 cases as of three weeks ago today.

Now, come back out here and watch this. You see how it moves? They all stay within that range, Neil, between 78,000 and 81,000 cases in China. Now I want you to put your focus here on Iran. Three weeks ago today, they were at 61 cases. Just watch that number, 13,900 as of today.

Come back out here, I will show you Italy, OK? Three weeks ago today, 229. And watch as we propel into the current day today for Italy, almost 25,000 cases.

Just to finish the examination here, for lack of a better word, here in the U.S., you're at 53 cases three weeks ago today, and now you're well over 3,700 cases. I know that number is low. I just showed you that a moment ago.

But just so that you know, what we're watching here, through Johns Hopkins, the World Health Organization, the CDC, I will just try and click on this just to -- just to end this segment here, Neil, 4,287 in the United States.

So that -- that's the trend we're seeing, and we're going to watch this map throughout the week to let folks know what we can pick up on that -- Neil, back to you.

CAVUTO: Well, that makes clear why the administration and authorities here are trying to limit these public interactions. They're afraid of those exponential leaps we have seen elsewhere.

HEMMER: That's a fact.

CAVUTO: All right, thank you, Bill Hemmer.

The travel ban is now extending to Ireland and the United Kingdom as of midnight tonight. We are looking at that, the effect on airports and whether they're prepared for all of that -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: Airlines are slashing a lot of their flights right now, all part of the coronavirus outbreak, and how they deal with it going forward.

Matt Finn has the latest from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

Hey, Matt.

MATT FINN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Neil.

Right now, the CDC says any passenger arriving from one of those level three countries of concerns can expect to be asked to quarantine themselves at home for 14 days. When they arrive to an airport, they can expect some type of medical screening, looking for those key symptoms like fever or difficulty of breathing.

And they're also going to be asked about their recent travel locations. The full list of those level three countries of concern is growing and can be found on the CDC Web site.

It includes countries like China, Iran, and now the U.K. and Ireland.

Here at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, from our observation, it appears that the long lines and chaos that formed over the weekend has calmed down. On Saturday, there was a massive crush of travelers making their way back into the country, reports of screening lines of up to six hours.

The Department of Homeland Security says those issues have been corrected. Returning travelers can now expect to wait an average of about 30 minutes.

Looking ahead, the second wave of travel bans on incoming flights from the U.K. and Ireland goes into effect tonight. And then, Neil, of course, it goes without saying the economic impact on airlines is expected to be severe, at best -- Neil.

CAVUTO: I am sure.

Matt, thank you, my friend.

Two doctors on the front lines, well, they're fighting for their lives. It's happened before. It's happening again.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)  CAVUTO: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis now speaking.

All right, I apologize for that. He is speaking. We do know that he is addressing the Florida primary tomorrow, that that is still going on. There had been talk in Ohio that they might push that one back at least a couple of months here.

We know for sure at least that the Florida primary is still on.

In the meantime, I want to go to Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider right now, who joins me on what's being done on the medical front.

You know, Doctor, I was thinking of you and these two doctors who are the front line dealing with this who now have the disease themselves and are fighting for their lives.

That is part of the risk of dealing with this, huh?

DR. SHOSHANA UNGERLEIDER, SUTTER HEALTH: Absolutely. And, gosh, my heart goes out to them and their families.

But I want to say that people need to realize that, first -- we keep hearing this -- this illness is so contagious, so contagious, that, even with top preventative measures, we have seen health care workers across the world contract this disease.

And so we protect our health care staff on the front lines of this disease by limiting the rate of spread of the virus. So, for the safety of our countries' nurses, doctors, respiratory therapists, everyone working tirelessly in our hospitals right now, I beg you to stay home.

Even if you feel well, you can spread this virus. This means, do not go to church or other religious gatherings, cancel dinner parties, no playdates for your kids or other social gatherings. Stay at home. Your actions matter, and you can save lives right now.

CAVUTO: Dr. Ungerleider, let me ask you about what the administration outlined today, limit groups to no more than 10, in fact, and even laid out the possibility this could all be going on into July or August.

What did you think of that?

UNGERLEIDER: You know, I think that the restrictions make really good sense.

As I said, I think, if you can stay home, absolutely do so. I think that we don't know what's going to happen in terms of this virus. We have never seen it before. So, I think planning ahead and thinking that this could last months and months is reasonable at this point.

And I would encourage everybody to kind of stay tuned to daily updates. Everybody's doing the best that they can to provide information.

CAVUTO: You know, I know about constantly washing your hands, of avoiding touching your face and all of that, even avoiding interaction with older relatives, for fear that you might give something to them and make them vulnerable.

How long do you think that process continues?

UNGERLEIDER: Gosh, it's hard to know.

CAVUTO: Yes.

UNGERLEIDER: I think that, for right now, we got to take it day by day.

And I definitely stand by what I said earlier, that staying home, staying away from people who you think might be sick, even within your own families, if you have a sick family member, have everybody quarantined, take care of each other, but stay at home.

Even if you don't have symptoms, you can be contagious and spread it to other people.

CAVUTO: How likely is this that this grows and explodes to the degree it did in Italy and much of Europe right now, where the number of deaths in Italy alone grew by 600 over the weekend?

UNGERLEIDER: It's just so hard to say.

The one thing I do know is that we can act now. So, the things that we are doing at this very moment, the decisions that we're making, can have a huge impact on keeping from what happens in Italy from happening here.

And I can tell you, from everybody on the front lines of health care, we need all of you to do your part.

CAVUTO: All right, Doctor, thank you very, very much.

There might be a temptation to talk about the markets here as I wrap up the last 30 seconds.

I want to talk about something I think is much more about human nature, the hoarding of everything from milk to toilet paper, all these other necessary items.

We have got to think of each other as human beings, and just calm down. And, remember, whatever you're hoarding, someone else is not getting.

So, forget about the markets right now, and think a little bit more with your heart right now, not to be a jerk about things.

And, remember, we're all in this together. Share and share alike, calmly, the next time you're at the grocery store.

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