President Donald Trump on Friday declared a national emergency over the coronavirus pandemic, and announced several specific measures aimed at stemming the effects of the outbreak.
The declaration will free up as much as $50 billion in financial resources to efforts by states and U.S. territories to assist Americans affected by the outbreak.
But Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned, “There will be many more cases” of coronavirus in coming weeks.
Trump announced the declaration at a news conference in the Rose Garden at the White House, where he was joined by Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading the Trump administration’s coronavirus task force.
Also with president were members of that task force and the CEOs of Target and Walmart, who met with Trump earlier in the day.
“To unleash the full power of the federal government … I am officially declaring a national emergency,” Trump said. “Two very big words.”
“The next eight weeks are critical,” the president said.
Trump said he expected the U.S. to have 1.4 million coronavirus test kits available within a week, and a total of 5 million kits within the next month. He then said he doubted the country will “need anywhere near” 5 million kits.
The president said there will be a “drive-thru” option for the tests, so that people can stay in their cars when they are screened for the virus.
He said he had ordered all states to set up emergency operation centers, and urged hospitals to engage emergency operation plans.
Dr. Debbie Birx, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator speaks as US President Donald Trump (R) and other members of the White House Coronavirus Task Forcee listen at a press conference on COVID-19, known as the coronavirus, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, March 13, 2020.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
But, Trump said, “we don’t want people to take a test if we feel that they shouldn’t be doing it, and we don’t want everyone running out and taking. Only if you have certain symptoms.”
The president said the emergency declaration will grant new authority to Health and Human Service Secretary Alex Azar to waive several rules governing how hospitals take in patients, and how long they can stay.
Seema Verma, the administrator of the federal, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, announced that all visitations to nursing homes would be suspended except in certain cases, such as a resident dying.
The Senate’s top Democrat, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, said, “I’m pleased the president heeded our calls to invoke the Stafford Act to extend vital financial assistance to help keep communities safe from the coronavirus outbreak.”
“I urge New York and other states to immediately request these newly available funds and for the Trump administration to approve these requests without delay,” Schumer said. “As other steps are considered, the president must not overstep his authority or indulge his autocratic tendencies for purposes not truly related to this public health crisis.”
Trump’s emergency designation under the Stafford Act allows for two types of presidential declarations.
The first is an emergency, which Trump declared.
The second is a major disaster, which gives emergency management even more access to resources.
Both designations place FEMA in charge of what happens.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday that he, Trump and the rest of leaders of the Group of 7 economic giant nations have “agreed to organize an extraordinary Leaders Summit by videoconference on Monday on Covid-19.”
“We will coordinate research efforts on a vaccine and treatments, and work on an economic and financial response,” Macron announced in a tweet.
The announcement of a U.S. national emergency comes just a day after Trump said he was not yet ready to make such a declaration.
“We have very strong emergency powers under the Stafford Act, and we are — we have it — I mean, I have it memorized, practically, as to the powers in that act. If I need to do something, I’ll do it,” Trump had said in an Oval Office meeting on Thursday with Ireland’s prime minister, Leo Varadkar.
“I have the right to do a lot of things that people don’t even know about,” Trump said.
An emergency declaration puts to rest weeks of debate within the White House, where different factions of Trump’s top aides disagreed about whether a Stafford Act declaration is necessary.
Those opposed to making the declaration, which had included Trump himself, worried that it would cause financial markets to panic.
They also feared political fallout if it appeared Trump was sending the opposite message about coronavirus, namely that it is an emergency, from the one he had consistently delivered so far.
Trump has claimed that coronavirus is no more dangerous than the common flu, and that it will likely disappear quickly and without a significant impact on American life. Health officials say neither of these statements is accurate.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency in the city on Thursday. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on the same day banned gatherings of 500 or more in the state “for the forseeable future.”
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC earlier Friday the White House and Congress are nearing a deal that would provide stimulus to the U.S. economy amid the coronavirus outbreak.
“I think we’re very close to getting this done,” Mnuchin said in a “Squawk on the Street” interview.
“The president is absolutely committed that this will be an entire government effort, that we will be working with the House and Senate.”
As of Friday, there were more than 135,000 known cases of coronavirus globally, including nearly 5,000 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
In the United States, there have been at least 1,700 known cases, with at least 40 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Correction: An earlier version misstated when the mayor declared an emergency in New York City. It was Thursday.
— Additional reporting by CNBC’s Yelena Dhzanova
