Donald Trump suggested during an interview on Fox News on Wednesday that many people with mild coronavirus symptoms could still go to work and get better. This goes against advice from medical professionals around the world who say that infected individuals should remain in isolation.

“A lot of people will have this and it’s very mild. They’ll get better very rapidly. They don’t even see a doctor, they don’t even call a doctor. You never hear about those people,” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity. “So you can’t put them down in the category of the overall population in terms of this corona flu and or virus. So you just can’t do that. So, if you know, we have thousands or hundreds of thousands of people that get better just by, you know, sitting around and even going to work. Some of them go to work, but they get better.”

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance states that people with COVID-19 who do not need hospitalization should restrict all activities outside the home excluding seeking medical care.

“Do not go to work, school or public areas. Avoid using public transportation, ride-sharing or taxis,” CDC advises.

A growing number of businesses in the US, including Twitter, Amazon and Microsoft, have asked employees to work from home in a bid to limit the spread of the disease. The World Health Organization, as well as dozens of governments and health organisations around the world, have also asked infected people to isolate themselves.

While most people who contract the illness have mild symptoms, 1 in 5 people with COVID-19 infection will need hospital care, WHO states on its website. Older people and those with preexisting medical conditions are more susceptible to contracting the SARS-CoV-2 infection (the virus that causes COVID-19), and may suffer a severe or fatal case. It is therefore important for those infected to take extra precautions not to transmit the disease to others.