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 At a White House briefing, Trump defended his administration's
handling of the crisis and said health experts were "ready, willing
and able" to move quickly if the virus spreads.
Trump made his comments as public health officials warned Americans
to prepare for more coronavirus cases. The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention confirmed an infection of the new coronavirus
in California in someone who had not traveled outside the United
States or been exposed to a person known to have the virus, a first
for the country.
How the person was infected was not known. It brought the total
number of cases in the United States to 15, according to the CDC.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio called on the government to help the
city obtain 300,000 extra protective masks. There were no confirmed
cases in the city but de Blasio announced plans to provide up to
1,200 hospital beds if needed.
U.S. stock markets fell for the fifth consecutive day on investors'
alarm about the respiratory disease spreading.
At the White House, Trump said he was not ready to institute new
travel restrictions for countries such as South Korea and Italy that
are dealing with outbreaks - although he could not rule it out. The
State Department raised its travel alert level for South Korea and
urged Americans to reconsider going there.
The CDC has advised Americans to not visit China and South Korea,
and on Wednesday stepped up travel warnings for Iran, Italy and
Mongolia.
"The risk to the American people remains very low," Trump said,
flanked by Pence and public health officials.
He said the spread of the virus in the United States was not
"inevitable" and then went on to say: "It probably will, it possibly
will. It could be at a very small level, or it could be at a larger
level. Whatever happens we’re totally prepared."
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and
Infections Diseases, said that while the virus was contained in the
United States, Americans must prepare for a potential outbreak as
transmissions spread outside of China.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the United
States has 59 coronavirus cases, including 42 American passengers
repatriated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Japan.
'POSSIBILITY OF PANDEMIC'
"We have to be alert to the possibility of a pandemic," Peter Marks,
director of the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Biologics
Evaluation and Research, said in an interview.
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House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said in a statement
that the Trump administration "has mounted an opaque and chaotic response to
this outbreak."
She said the House would put forward a "funding package with transparency and
accountability that fully addresses the scale and seriousness of this public
health crisis."
Trump is seeking $2.5 billion from Congress to boost the government's virus
response, an amount Democrats said falls far short of what is needed. Senate
Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called for $8.5 billion to prepare.
Global stock markets have slumped in recent days due to worries over a prolonged
disruption to supply chains and economies from the virus, which has infected
about 80,000 people and killed nearly 3,000, mostly in China.
U.S. stocks turned lower in afternoon trading - the S&P 500 index fell for a
fifth straight day and the Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> ended down 123.77
points, or 0.46%. [.N]
Trump, who is running for a second term in the November election, has been
increasingly alarmed by the drop in U.S. stock markets, which he considers a
barometer of the health of the American economy and sees as important to his
re-election.
He told reporters at the White House that fears of the coronavirus had hurt the
stock markets. But he also blamed the Democratic presidential candidates for
spooking investors.
"I think the financial markets are very upset when they look at the Democrat
candidates standing on that stage making fools out of themselves," Trump said in
reference to debates among the Democratic contenders vying for the right to
challenge him.
Earlier in the day, Trump accused two cable TV news channels, CNN and MSNBC, of
presenting the danger from the virus in as bad a light as possible and upsetting
financial markets.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Jonathan Allen; additional reporting by Steve
Holland, Makini Brice, Susan Heavey and Michael Erman; Writing by John
Whitesides and Alistair Bell; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Bill Berkrot and Grant
McCool)
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