US President Donald Trump on Friday will declare a national emergency over the Novel Coronavirus, opening the door to providing more federal aid to fight COVID-19 under the Stafford Act.
As per Reuters, a source revealed that Trump will make the announcement at a news conference scheduled for 3 p.m. (1900 GMT). Pressure has been mounting for the President to declare an infectious disease emergency under the 1988 law that would allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide disaster funds to state and local governments and to deploy support teams. The power is rarely used. Former President Bill Clinton in 2000 declared such an emergency for West Nile virus.
US Coronavirus situation
COVID-19 continues to spread rapidly within the US. Meanwhile, a projection shared with US Congress revealed that between 70 and 150 million Americans could eventually be infected with the Novel Coronavirus. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib made these remarks during a hearing of the House of Representatives with members of the president's coronavirus task force while the number of infected people hits 1,268.
Even though the availability of Coronavirus tests became an issue in the US, Stanford and Mayo Clinic both have developed their own tests. A Stanford Health Care laboratory has created a Coronavirus or COVID-19 test which is being used on Stanford Health Care and Stanford Children's Health patients who are suspected of being affected by the Novel Coronavirus. Later, Mayo Clinic announced on Thursday that they have developed a test capable of detecting the virus Coronavirus, which causes COVID-19 which will take 24 hours to produce the report.
(With inputs from agency)
