VIDEO: Vice President: Avoid Airplanes, Malls, Classrooms

VIDEO BELOW: Vice President Joe Biden may not be a doctor, but he dispensed curious medical advice on the morning network news shows Thursday, advising Americans to avoid “confined places,” such as airplanes, malls and classrooms. And while he did not mention them specifically, his admonition apparently also included subways, confined spaces used by tens of thousands of New Yorkers and tourists daily.

“I wouldn’t go anywhere in confined places now,” Biden said when asked whether he would advise family members to use public transportation.

Biden made his comments during a brief interview on NBC’s “Today” show during an interview with Matt Lauer.

“I would tell members of my family, and I have, I wouldn’t go anywhere in confined places now. It’s not that it’s going to Mexico, it’s you’re in a confined aircraft when one person sneezes it goes all the way through the aircraft. That’s me. I would not be, at this point, if they had another way of transportation suggesting they ride the subway. ”

The vice president also implied that schools should be closed as the threat of swine flu increases.

“If you’re out in the middle of a field and someone sneezes that’s one thing. If you’re in a closed aircraft or a closed container or closed car or closed classroom it’s a different thing.”

About two hours after the interview, Biden’s office issued a statement attempting to clarify the vice president’s remarks.

“The advice he is giving family members is the same advice the administration is giving all Americans: That they should avoid unnecessary air travel to and from Mexico. If they are sick, they should avoid airplanes and other confined public spaces, such as subways. This is the advice the vice president has given family members who are traveling by commercial airline this week,” Biden’s spokeswoman, Elizabeth Alexander, said in a statement.

“Today” show co-host Meredith Vieira and NBC’s Chuck Todd discussed Biden’s statement after he made the remarks, wondering if the vice president really had intended to caution the American public to stay off public transportation and airplanes. They noted his comments seemed to contradict public statements by other high-ranked White House officials.

(Source: NBC New York / WCBSTV)