“I am officially declaring a national emergency,” Trump announced on Friday, which he said would unleash the full power of the federal government to combat the coronavirus.
President Trump said he was making $50 billion in emergency funding available, lifting restrictions on doctors and hospitals and waiving student loan interest. But prospects for a congressional bill to aid affected people remain unclear, the New York Times reports.
Mr. Trump said hospitals would now be able to “do as they want. They could do what they have to do.”
“I am officially declaring a national emergency, two very big words,” he said.
“I’m urging every state to set up emergency operations centers effective immediately,” he added.
Mr. Trump said he was waiving interest on student loans, and that with oil prices low, the government would buy large quantities of crude oil for the nation’s strategic reserve.
His comments marked the first time he has addressed the coronavirus as a problem within the country’s borders, not just something that needed to be kept out with travel restrictions.
Mr. Trump, who has been accused of downplaying the crisis, detailed the administration’s efforts to speed testing, which was announced earlier on Friday. He said that millions of virus testing kits would become available, but added that he did not think that many would be needed.
“We don’t want everybody taking this test,” he said. “It’s totally unnecessary.” “This will pass, this will pass through, and we will be even stronger for it,” the president said.
Cases in the U.S. have climbed past 1,800, even with sporadic and spare testing, and the death toll has risen to 41.
