Expert confirms 'moderate' symptoms for most with coronavirus

Vice President Mike Pence updates reporters on the White House response to the coronavirus (CNN screenshot)

Amid a cascade of cancelations of public gatherings, including the suspension of all major sports leagues, an infectious-disease expert confirmed Vice President Mike Pence's claim Thursday that "the vast majority of Americans who even contract the Coronavirus will have flu-like symptoms and will fully recover."

The vice president said he expects the number of people in the United States who contract the disease to be in the "thousands." So far, 1,329 cases have been recorded in the U.S. with 39 deaths.

Dr. William Shaffner, professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, told Fox News in an interview that 80% of people who contract the coronavirus will have "moderate or milder" symptoms such as fever, cough and shortness of breath.

Shaffner affirmed that the focus should be on protecting older people with underlying health issues for whom the virus can be deadly.

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He was asked to respond to a study published in the British medical journal The Lancet of cases in China finding patients could spread the virus for up to 37 days after they start showing symptoms.

Shaffner said 37 days is the "odd" case.

"Most people don't, and the infectiousness of people does diminish rather rapidly after they recover from their illness," he said.

Shaffner agreed with the decisions to cancel public events to stop the spread of the disease and emphasized the importance of washing hands to interrupt the transmission of the virus from surfaces to bodies.

Pence, in an interview with "Fox & Friends," said "our experts studying global data" have found that the coronavirus is two to three times more contagious as a respiratory illness."

"So, we will have thousands of more cases across this country. But your viewers deserve to know that most Americans, the vast majority of Americans who even contract the Coronavirus will have flu-like symptoms and will fully recover," he said.

See the Pence Fox News interview:

Pence noted he spoke on the phone Wednesday with a man named Clay Bentley in Rome, Georgia, who is recovering well from the disease.

"So, we don't want, as the president has conveyed, we don't want Americans to be overly concerned," he said. "We want everybody to practice good common sense."

He affirmed that in communities where the virus has spread, such as California, Washington state and New York, aggressive measures are needed, including "social distancing," maintaining a distance of six feet from others.

"And we'll respect the decisions of any business, any sports enterprise that decides to cancel events to put the health of the country first," he said.

"But it's really important, I really believe, to focus on the most vulnerable, seniors with serious underlying health conditions," Pence said.

"It's the reason why we are focusing more inspections, we've raised the guidelines at nursing homes, and we're recommending that people, other than those that have family members in hospice care, special circumstances, avoid visiting nursing homes over the next 30 days," he said.