President Trump just declared the coronavirus pandemic a national emergency. Here’s what that means
There are two different legal routes for declaring a national emergency over something like the coronavirus pandemic. Here’s what they would do.
WASHINGTON — President Trump declared the Covid-19 pandemic a national emergency on Friday, the first time such a declaration has been issued over an infectious disease outbreak since the H1N1 influenza pandemic of 2009.
In a Rose Garden press conference, Trump said his declaration would free $50 billion in federal resources to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus and the respiratory disease it causes, which has sickened over 1,000 Americans and killed thousands more worldwide.
The declaration also instructs state governments to set up emergency operations centers; directs hospitals nationwide to activate emergency preparedness contingency plans; and allows health secretary Alex Azar to
