14/3/2020 Donald Trump declares US national emergency for coronavirus | Financial Times

Coronavirus
Donald Trump declares US national emergency for coronavirus
Markets soar as president authorises actions including large purchases of oil

Donald Trump, centre, said the declaration of a national emergency would authorise the US government to tap up $50bn in funds to address the
outbreak © AFP

James Politi in Washington and Hannah Kuchler in New York 3 HOURS AGO

Donald Trump has beefed up the US response to the coronavirus outbreak, declaring
a national emergency that will free up more federal funds to fight the disease, and
striking an agreement with congressional Democrats on an economic stimulus
package.

The moves by the US president on Friday cheered financial markets, with US stocks
moving sharply higher to end the day up 9.3 per cent, after suffering their biggest rout
since the 1987 crash on Thursday. Investors had reacted negatively to a speech by Mr
Trump on Wednesday night in which he announced sweeping new travel restrictions
affecting Europe, but appeared reassured by the steps he took on Friday.

In addition to declaring the national emergency, the president said in remarks from
the White House that the US would also waive interest on federal student loans and
purchase crude oil to boost the country’s strategic petroleum reserve.

Mr Trump spoke as US cases of coronavirus rose to 1,678, according to the Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention. There have been 41 US deaths reported so far.
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14/3/2020 Donald Trump declares US national emergency for coronavirus | Financial Times
for Disease Control and Prevention. There have been 41 US deaths reported so far.

The president was flanked by Mike Pence, the US vice-president, and top health
officials as he spoke. He was also accompanied by the chief executive of several US
retailers, including Walmart, who offered to set aside part of store parking lots for
“drive-through” coronavirus testing. In defiance of CDC guidelines calling for “non-
contact” forms of greeting, Mr Trump shook hands with the business leaders as they
made brief remarks from the podium.

Mr Trump had previously dismissed the disease as “so well under control” and a
“hoax” perpetrated by Democratic politicians, but he has since felt growing pressure
to take action to contain the spread of the virus and limit the damage to the US
economy and financial markets as he campaigns for re-election.

The move to declare a national emergency came two days after Mr Trump imposed a
sweeping ban on the entry of foreign nationals who had recently spent time in many
parts of Europe, where the coronavirus is spreading rapidly. The Trump
administration had exempted the UK, Ireland and other non-Schengen area countries
in Europe from the restrictions, but said he was considering adding Britain to the list
following an increase in coronavirus cases there. “It was looking good but the results
have been building up pretty rapidly,” he said.

A growing numbers of US communities, from Seattle in Washington state to New

York City and its suburbs, have been experienced outbreaks. Many US states, as well
as the District of Columbia, have closed schools and barred large events.

The White House has been heavily criticised for the US government’s inability to
ramp up coronavirus testing; the US population remains among the least tested of
any advanced economy, which has made it harder for health authorities in many
states to assess the severity of the outbreak and respond appropriately.

The administration attempted to address those criticisms on Friday, approving a

high-volume test made by the Swiss pharmaceuticals group Roche and offering grants

to two companies that are developing a screening that could diagnose the virus in less
than an hour.
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14/3/2020 Donald Trump declares US national emergency for coronavirus | Financial Times
than an hour.

Mr Trump said he had “vastly increased and accelerated” the capacity to test,
promising 5m tests within a month. Many of the executives at the White House were
leaders of major diagnostics makers, testing providers and retailers.

The US Food and Drug Administration approved Roche’s diagnostic test within 24
hours, and the president said he hoped authorities would approve another from the
scientific equipment maker ThermoFisher just as fast. Beckton Dickinson also said it
was ramping up capacity to produce a diagnostic test.

The Roche tests, which need to be distributed to the specialist labs which already have
their machines, will be able to do half a million tests by early next week, Mr Trump
said. Once ThermoFisher is approved, there will be an additional 1.4m tests available,
he added.

The test providers Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp, which are already conducting
thousands of tests, said they expected to be able to significantly increase capacity in
the coming weeks. In addition, Mr Trump spoke at length about the opportunity for
patients to get tested at “drive-throughs” in the parking lots of major retail chains
Walmart and Walgreens. Google has about 1,700 workers creating a website for
people to undertake a survey to help them decide whether to get a test — and then be
shown the local testing sites.

The president said he did not take “responsibility” for the lacklustre pace of testing,
adding he did not want “everyone running out” to get a test once they were more
widely available.

The president also said he himself would “most likely” be tested for coronavirus
“fairly soon”, although the details were still being worked out. Mr Trump stood next
to a Brazilian official last weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida who has since
tested positive for coronavirus. Jair Bolsonaro, the Brazilian president, said on Friday
he had tested negative for the disease.

Steven Mnuchin, the US Treasury secretary, and Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic
speaker of the House of Representatives, had been locked in negotiations throughout
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14/3/2020 Donald Trump declares US national emergency for coronavirus | Financial Times
speaker of the House of Representatives, had been locked in negotiations throughout
the day on a package of stimulus measures to help the US economy weather the
disease, which threatens to push the country into recession.

Democrats have been pushing for provisions such as paid sick leave for workers, a
boost in food aid and jobless benefits, and increased funding for federal healthcare
benefits for low-income families. But the Trump administration wanted targeted
financial help for certain affected industries, such as airlines and hospitality, as well
as a more sweeping payroll tax cut.

The agreement was approved by the House early on Saturday morning before moving
to the Senate next week. Neither side disclosed a price tag for the package.

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