Donald Trump has declared a state of emergency in the US as the country reacts to increasing scrutiny over its handling of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Declaring a national emergency will allow President Trump to provide more federal funds to states and cities in America in order for them to fight the virus. The country has now recorded over 1300 cases including 41 deaths, many of them coming from the Washington State.
Trump, along with expert Dr. Deborah Birx, said the move will hugely benefit doctors in their fight against the pandemic.
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Trump said he expects 'half a million additional tests will be available early next week'.
The president added: "Which will bring probably 1.4 million tests next week and five million in a month.
"Our overriding goal is to stop the spread of the virus."
Numbers of cases on the east coast are increasingly on the rise, and several sporting and cultural events have been suspended or cancelled. The NBA have suspended their season until further notice after Utah Jazz' player Rudy Gobert tested positive for Covid-19.
Music festival Coachella has re-scheduled its two weekends in April to the Autumn, while concert promoting giants Live Nation and AEG sought to suspend their large-scale events worldwide.
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At government level, chaos reigns with speculation that Trump himself is in danger of contracting the disease, following conflicting reports around senior figures both from within the US and outside contracting the virus before having contact with the President.
The most high profile of those is Brazilian Presidnent Jair Bolsonaro who has confused people by reportedly testing positive initially for the coronavirus, only to then claim that a follow-up test had declared him negative.
Bolsonaro was tested after his press secretary Fabio Waingarten tested positive, and the pair were both guests of Trump's at his Mar-A-Lago resort in Florida over the weekend. Bolsonaro was pictured hugging Trump, while Miami Mayor Francis Suarez tested positive for coronavirus after attending an event with the Brazilian leader in Miami on Monday.
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The First Family have so far resisted going into voluntary quarantine.
Topics: US News