Trump news: President declares national emergency over coronavirus and calls on hospitals to activate emergency plans

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Joe Biden unveils coronavirus plan after Trump response

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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Key Points

• Trump accused of 'fountain of nonsense' over coronavirus as approval rating falls
• Nancy Pelosi says aid package agreement with White House near
• Lindsey Graham self-quarantining after Mar-a-Lago stay
• Biden: 'Public fears being compounded by pervasive lack of trust in this president'
• Japan rebuffs president after he calls for Olympic Games postponement

[13 March 2020 22:53 · Alex Woodward]

That's it for today's coverage of the Trump administration and coronavirus response.

Stay tuned with The Independent.