Trump issues emergency declaration for coronavirus pandemic
President Donald Trump declared a federal state of emergency as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread throughout the US. The move frees up additional funding that will allow the government to address the effects of the pandemic.
“I am officially declaring a national emergency,” Trump said today. “Two very big words.”
Emergency declarations help governments tap into additional sources of funding during events like disease outbreaks.
This is different from the public health state of emergency that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) declared at the end of January. That declaration gave HHS more flexibility to assist local and state health departments and modify Medicare and Medicaid requirements, among other powers.
The US response the pandemic has been significantly slower and less effective than in some other countries because of problems developing and rolling out tests for the virus. President Donald Trump had previously resisted calls to issue an emergency declaration, reportedly concerned that it would go against his assertions that the novel coronavirus outbreak was under control.
Test capacity is gradually increasing, and the Trump administration took steps today to speed the approval process for tests developed by private companies. However, it is still far too difficult for people who suspect they have contracted the virus to receive a test.
So far over 136,000 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, have been reported around the world. Over 5,000 people have died. In the US, over 1,200 cases have been identified, and that number is expected to rise in the coming days.
Developing…
President Donald Trump declared a federal state of emergency as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread throughout the US. The move frees up additional funding that will allow the government to address the effects of the pandemic. “I am officially declaring a national emergency,” Trump said today. “Two very big…
