Sanders warns of coronavirus 'meltdown' on par with World War II

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday offered a dark assessment of the coronavirus outbreak, warning that the nation is facing an unprecedented emergency on par with a world war.

"The crisis we face from the coronavirus is on a scale of a major war, and we must act accordingly," he said. "The number of casualties may actually be even higher than what the armed forces experienced in World War II. In other words, we have a major, major crisis and we must act accordingly."

In a speech from Burlington, Vt., the Democratic presidential candidate called for drastic action to combat the spread of the disease - from guaranteeing unemployment insurance and building emergency homeless shelters to enlisting medical residents and retired doctors to aid with the response effort.