WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 11: US President Donald Trump addresses the nation from the Oval Office about the widening coronavirus crisis on March 11, 2020 in Washington, DC. President Trump said the US will suspend all travel from Europe for the next 30 days. Since December 2019, coronavirus (COVID-19) has infected more than 109,000 people and killed more than 3,800 people in 105 countries. (Photo by Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump is expected to declare a National state of emergency over the global pandemic of coronavirus, according to multiple sources and reports.
Trump will be making the announcement at the 3:00 p.m. press conference today.
Senate Democrats have urged Trump to invoke the Stafford Act and other disaster declaration requests which would free up more than $42 billion in funding for states available in the Disaster Relief Fund.
Declaring National Emergency under the Stafford Act would allow the government to martial additional resources to combat the pandemic.
Emergency declarations as such allows a state to request a 75% federal cost-share for expenses including emergency workers, medical tests, supplies, vaccinations, security for medical facilities, and more, according to a letter sent to the President earlier this week.
Only a few emergency declarations for public health threats have been made since the 1960s. President Bill Clinton declared emergencies in 2000 in New York and New Jersey in response to the West Nile Virus outbreak.
