Coronavirus Update: Trump Urged By Democrats To Declare National Emergency As Virus Spreads

As confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the U.S. grows beyond 1,000, President Trump is being called on by Washington leaders to take stronger action. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and others are now calling on Trump to declare a national emergency over the spread of coronavirus.

Aides for Schumer shared the news with CNN on Wednesday, adding the Democrat Sens. Gary Peters of Michigan and Patty Murray of Washington are also joining the call. Earlier in the day, Murray attempted to introduce a bill that would allow citizens to earn paid sick leave to help them address their individual situations. A unanimous consent bill, it failed when Republican Lamar Alexander of Tennessee declined to support it.

Should Trump declare coronavirus a national emergency, it would give the Federal Emergency Management Agency access to a $40 billion relief fund. This would give the agency a greater ability to aid local governments' in fighting the virus.

Trump has so far signed a bill that provides $8.3 billion for relief efforts. While most of the package went towards direct efforts to fight the outbreak, $500 million of it was specified for the funding of telehealth programs. This is intended to give senior citizens greater access to medical attention. Schumer was part of the effort to negotiate this bipartisan relief package.

“The real problem is a federal problem,” Schumer said about the response to the virus. “There are nowhere near enough testing kits for the community from the Federal Government. And as you know, when you can’t test you don’t know who has the virus, who doesn’t. It leads to further spreading of the virus, and it leads to all sorts of panic among people who think they might be exposed but have no way of knowing.”

Trump will address the nation on the coronavirus Wednesday night.