US state of emergency as Trump caves in to pressure

CORONAVIRUS : CRISIS ESCALATES

- Mark Reynolds

DONALD Trump declared a state of emergency in the United States last night as coronavirus cases continued to soar.

The move, amid growing pressure on the President after he initially played down the crisis, will free up financial resources to help Americans hit by the outbreak.

It came as the number of cases of coronavirus in the United States reached 2,030 yesterday, with the death toll climbing to 41.

Mr Trump said: “To unleash the full power of the federal government, I am officially declaring a national emergency.

“No resources will be spared, nothing whatsoever.”

He said his action will free up $50billion to help states in “our shared fight against this disease.”

The US President ordered all 50 states to set up centres to deal with the virus and activate contingency plans.

Mr Trump said the order would give broad new authority to the US health secretary to waive a series of laws and regulations to give healthcare operators greater flexibility in the battle against the spread of the virus.

He claimed as many as half a million coronavirus tests would be made available next week, while millions more will follow.

The state of emergency announcement came shortly after Mr Trump met major laboratory company executives about the response to the coronavirus outbreak.