Trump news: President declares national emergency over coronavirus and calls on hospitals to activate emergency plans
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Donald Trump has declared a national emergency while under intense pressure from Democrats and health officials over his administration's handling of the global coronavirus pandemic, as his approval ratings fall and the stock market has plunged throughout the week.
Flanked by business executives and top health officials in his administration, the market saw an uptick as the president outlined plans for a federal response to the outbreak.
House Democrats also announced they had reached a deal with the administration to provide free testing to patients, including uninsured people, as well as paid sick leave, which Democrats and presidential candidates have urged the White House consider as workers brace for impact.
The global death toll surpassed 5,000 on Friday, with new confirmed cases of Covid-19 surging in the US and throughout Europe.
Louisiana announced it was delaying its state primaries due to the pandemic, as countless campaign events were cancelled and candidate like Bernie Sanders said their bids for the presidency had been “radically changed” due to the outbreak.
Meanwhile, South Carolina GOP senator and Trump ally Lindsey Graham has announced he is going into self-quarantine after coming into contact with a Brazilian official who has since tested positive for Covid-19 at Trump’s Florida resort Mar-a-Lago. On Friday, a second person who stayed at the president's Florida estate has been confirmed to have the virus.
The president himself continues to insist he is “not concerned”.
The FDA is also providing an emergency approval for a new coronavirus test that promises to increase the speed and rate of testing tenfold across the country.
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What would happen if Trump got the coronavirus?
Given that the list of people connected to the president who have been in contact with someone who has tested positive grows ever longer (see Ivanka and Bill Barr meeting Australian politician Peter Hutton, now confirmed to have it, only last week below), this feels like a highly pertinent question.
"Investor panic and memes" is the short answer, says Clark Mindock.
'Biden became president today'
Here's Andrew Feinberg on Joe Biden's decidedly presidential speech on the coronavirus last night.
He says even die-hard Republicans are breaking with Trump on the issue.
Bernie Sanders says pandemic is 'on a scale of major war' and deaths could top Second World War
Let's not count out Bernie just yet though.
Although the chips are down after Slightly Less Super Tuesday - where supporter Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says he lost Michigan due to "rampant voter suppression - and with an uphill battle to win the Florida primary next week on the cards, the Vermont senator has nevertheless mustered some equally uncompromising rhetoric on the coronavirus of his own.
Woodward and Mindock (ah so close!) have more on this.
Trump accuses Fed chairman of placing US at 'economic & physiological disadvantage'
Here's the latest from the president, who continues to prefer to dwell on the economy rather than the practicalities of actually containing the new plague.
He remains as dogged as ever in his determination to scapegoat Jay Powell, it seems, after yesterday saw the markets plummet and the Dow Jones have its worst day since 1987.
Markets rally as Pelosi hints deal on aid package close
This is the latest from the markets incidentally, which followed yesterday's Black Monday-esque horror by boucing back a little in response to the word from Congress.
Trump will no doubt be taking all the credit for himself.
Trump under pressure to self-isolate after Jair Bolsonaro tests positive
Republican Doug Collins has ended his short bout of self-quarantine and is returning to DC, while teammate Ted Cruz is staying on in Texas.
Virginia Democrat Don Beyer is also in isolation and believes Trump should be too.
Given that Jair Bolsonaro has just tested positive, Representative Beyer might well have a point...
Trump announces news conference on coronavirus this afternoon
Be there or be square.
He's not going to say he's got it - is he??
White House ‘blocking calls to Trump’ from former adviser trying to warn him how dire pandemic is
Tom Bossert, a former Homeland Security adviser to the administration, has reportedly tried several times in recent days to reach the president or vice president to warn them just how dire the coronavirus pandemic really is but is getting fobbed off by the White House.
Harry Cockburn picks up the story.
FDA issues emergency approval for new Covid-19 test that works 10 times faster
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted emergency approval for a new coronavirus test that promises to promises to vastly increase both the speed and rate of testing across the country, according to officials.
The new tests run on the pharmaceutical company Roche Holding AG’s cobas 6800/8800 systems, which, according to Bloomberg News, are capable of performing 4,128 and 1,440 tests daily, respectively.
Thomas Schinecker, who leads the company’s diagnostics unit, told the news outlet in an interview: “We are increasing the speed definitely by a factor of 10.”
Story to come...
Miami mayor tests positive for coronavirus after meeting Brazilian president
Francis Suarez has tested positive for COVID-19, according to reports. He was in attendance at the Florida event with Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro.
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