Surgeon general: Coronavirus death toll can come in under projections if we 'continue to do our part'

Surgeon General Jerome Adams and the director of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention are both voicing optimism that the United States' coronavirus death toll can end up lower than the projection previously shared by the White House.

CDC director Robert Redfield in a Monday interview with KVOI Radio said the "large majority of the American public" is following social distancing guidelines, and he therefore anticipates "the numbers are going to be much, much, much, much lower than would have been predicted by the models," per Politico. The White House recently shared a forecast suggesting the U.S. coronavirus death toll could be between 100,000 and 240,000.

In a Tuesday appearance on Good Morning America, the surgeon general was asked about Redfield's comments and whether it's his expectation that the country's death toll will come in below the White House projection.

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"That's absolutely my expectation, and I feel a lot more optimistic because I'm seeing mitigation work," Adams said.

"I really do believe that we will come in under those protections as long as we can continue to do our part for 30 days," Adams continued, referring to the federal social distancing guidelines that were recently extended until the end of April.

Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force's response coordinator, previously said the United States could be facing up to 200,000 coronavirus deaths even in a scenario where Americans do everything "almost perfectly."

The total number of coronavirus deaths in the United States has passed 11,000, and on Tuesday, New York reported its deadliest day so far. But New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) did say the hardest-hit state is "reaching a plateau in the total number of hospitalizations." He previously suggested New York could be seeing a "flattening of the curve" but stressed, "we have to continue the social distancing."