Surgeon General Jerome Adams stressed the need for Americans to continue staying home and implementing social distancing measures to slow the spread of COVID-19, warning that not enough people have been taking the situation seriously so far, during an interview on NBC's "Today."

The urging comes as questions increase about whether the measures being taken to stop the spread of the virus, which are already severely hurting the economy and the well-being of Americans, are going to be more harmful than the virus itself.

"I want America to understand this week, it's going to get bad," Adams said.

He went on to point out large numbers of people still visiting beaches or other public areas, particularly young and healthy people who seemingly believe that the coronavirus infection can't impact them.

"Everyone needs to act as if they have the virus right now," Adams said. "So, test or no test. We need you to understand you could be spreading it to someone else. Or you could be getting it from someone else, stay at home."

US Surgeon General Jerome Adams On Coronavirus: 'This Week It's Going To Get Bad' | TODAYyoutu.be

Many Americans are complying with social distancing orders/requests, and many businesses have been forcibly shut down by orders from state and local government officials, supported by President Donald Trump. The question now is how long such measures should last — and how long they can last without doing more harm than good.

That's a question the president raised Sunday night, when he tweeted that shutdown measures would be reevaluated after 15 days to ensure that the cure isn't worse than the disease.

Trump has previously said the coronavirus crisis could last as long as August, according to information he's received from his advisers on the coronavirus task force.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has warned that the outbreak in the U.S. could get as bad as Italy if proper action isn't taken to prevent the spread. As of Monday morning, 5,476 people have died in Italy from the coronavirus.

(H/T: Hot Air)