Fox's Dr. Marc Siegel says “worst case scenario” for coronavirus is “it could be the flu”

Dr. Siegel: “At worst, at worst, worst case scenario it could be the flu”

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From the March 6, 2020, edition of Fox News' Hannity

SEAN HANNITY (HOST): Listen, even friends of mine saying is this really that bad? Do I have to -- and I'm not a doctor. I'm not going to begin to go down that road. I put my trust in you, and you were an expert. They never implemented the travel ban. They never quarantined anybody, H1N1. And we lost, I think ultimately it was close to, what, 13, 14, whatever thousand people. And worldwide over half a million. Isn't that correct? 

DR. MARC SIEGEL (FOX NEWS MEDICAL CONTRIBUTOR): Absolutely. And over 300,000 deaths in the United States alone when all the figures were counted. And let me tell you something, this virus should be compared to the flu, because at worst, at worst, worst case scenario it could be the flu. And as you pointed out, the president has jumped in quickly, started the travel bans. He understands the public health issues. He's got top leaders advising him. Guess what the reason is? Try to prevent and slow the spread before it takes root here. 

HANNITY: Last question. Is there anything the president could have done sooner, faster, in your view, medically? 

SIEGEL: Absolutely not. He's been having the leaders working on it. By the way, now that the cases are starting to come, the test kits are coming, so we're getting them in time. I think the president has been projecting calm. I've written a book on fear. He's been very cool. Did you see him today? He's the anti-fearmonger-in-chief, Sean.