President Trump declares national emergency in response to coronavirus. (Recorded LIVE)
Hello, welcome to The Daily Moth. It is Friday, March 13. I am going live now because President Trump just finished a press conference at the White House in front of news reporters.
Trump officially declared a national emergency to respond to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. You know, it’s been on the news constantly and many are concerned. People were asking what is the response? Stocks have been dropping. Now Trump is “taking action” by declaring a national emergency.
It is significant because it will make available $50 billion in funding to help local, city, and state-level governments to respond to the virus in their local communities. The $50 billion will be available for them so they can respond with giving tests. The FEMA can use this money to set up centers.
Trump said it is his goal to have every state set up emergency centers to give testing for coronavirus. It is his goal to provide drive-by testings. It’s where you can pull up in your car, roll down your window, and get a swab. You don’t have to go inside and spread the virus. An official from Walmart said they would allow their parking lot spaces to be used for testing centers.
Trump said the FDA has approved a new test for the virus, that it was approved quickly. They expect a few million more tests to be available by next week, another five million tests by next month. So it’s a big increase in tests.
The White House said they are working with Google to develop an online map in which you can lookup the testing locations if you feel sick. If you’re wondering if you have the coronavirus, you can drive and get swabbed. It’s done via Google. Hopefully many more can be tested so they can stay home and self-isolate to try and stop the spread of the virus.
Trump said “not everyone” should take the test, but to take it only if you have symptoms. What are the most common symptoms? They are coughing, breathing difficulties, and fever. Those are the most common. If you suspect it, you can get a test. Prior to today’s announcement, it was hard to take a test and unclear where you could get one. With this declaration and $50 billion in available funding, new tests, drive-up tests, hopefully the spread of coronavirus can be controlled in America.
I’m looking at my typed notes in front of me.
Dr. Fauci, one of the top experts from the National Institutes of Health, said that he doesn’t want too many people to become sick in a short period of time because it would overwhelm our healthcare system. Hospitals and the like. If there are too many sick people going in those places, it will overwhelm doctors, nurses, supplies such as masks, and it can have a very bad impact.
In Italy, it’s really bad. I saw that there’s over 17,000 people infected in Italy alone. It’s just one country. It’s overwhelmed their healthcare system. Supplies are running out. They’re overwhelmed. We don’t want it to happen here in America, so hopefully many of us are responsible in distancing ourselves so we don’t spread the virus. There will also be more tests available. So it’s a shift going forward. It’s more serious.
Trump, just a few days ago, questioned why so many people were worried and why the markets were crashing. He said that the flu kills many people compared to the coronavirus, but Trump is changing his approach. He’s serious and declaring a national emergency. $50 billion is going to be available in the fight against the disease. It’s a different approach. He’s seeing the numbers of infected going up so he’s changing.
Trump said he will buy vast quantities of crude oil, which is “gas,” so he can fill up America’s reserves. It will help the oil industry and it’s also a purchase while oil prices are cheap. The tanks will be filled up.
Trump said starting midnight tonight, all flights from Europe will be restricted. The U.K. is exempt, but it is possible that they’ll be included since they have over 20 people infected. It’s starting to spread there. All of Europe can’t come for 30 days, starting midnight. But Americans and green-card holders, permanent residents, can fly here, but they will be asked to voluntarily self-quarantine, to stay at home for 14 days. It’s to make sure they aren’t spreading the virus. So for any Americans or green card holders out there, if you are in Europe and fly over here, go to your home and quarantine yourself for 14 days. It’s voluntarily, it’s not required.
Vice-President Mike Pence said it is important to think of our senior citizens, or those who have vulnerable immune system. Pence also said he would order new rules to make sure nursing homes are safe. In Washington State, there were 19 people who died in a single nursing home. 20 died in a single nursing home. It’s very dangerous for those in nursing homes. So he’s trying to apply the rules nationwide to restrict nonessential visits such as those from family and friends or those from church or for any other reason. That will be stopped so only essential visits are allowed. It’s to keep nursing homes safe.
Trump said the next eight weeks are critical. He said we can turn a corner on the virus. We can beat the spread of the disease. The next 8 weeks are critical.
Trump did have a meeting last weekend with a delegation from Brazil who visited the Mar-a-Lago resort in South Florida. One person that Trump posed a picture with just tested positive for coronavirus. Trump was asked if he would self-isolate and go into quarantine. Trump said no, that he was not advised by his doctors to do that, and said he did not have symptoms. Trump was asked about this several times, Trump said he didn’t know who the man was and said that he had not seen the picture. But there were many others who published the picture of Trump standing with the man. Trump was vague in his responses but later said that he would take a test.
Vice-President Pence said cruise companies in America agreed to a 60-day pause in operations. The cruise ship industry will be hit. It’s easy to spread viruses on cruises, so they are halted. They were asked if the U.S. government will give a bailout to the cruise industry and they responded they aren’t sure. They did not give a promise but said they would help out cruises. Is this a bailout? We don’t know. The airline industry was also hit hard by coronavirus. Many flights are canceled and many people are not flying. Will the U.S. government help them out? They said they would help out, but there was no promise of a bailout. So maybe we’ll see something come up that will help out the cruise and airline industries.
House Democrats, Congressional Democrats, have have proposed a bill to help with the coronavirus situation. It includes a paid sick leave program, enhanced unemployment benefits, free virus testing, and additional funds for food assistance and Medicaid. Trump said he doesn’t support it the new bill because it did not include certain things and that Democrats weren’t giving enough. So there’s still a back-and-forth between Democrats and Republicans on a new bill to help many Americans who were impacted economically and with their lives because of coronavirus. The bill is still in negotiations.
After Trump’s press conference, the U.S. stock market went up by a lot. Today the DOW went up almost 2,000 points. Yesterday it was 2,000 points down, now it’s up. Recently many stocks took a dive because there was uncertainty on whether the U.S. government would respond to coronavirus or not and there was confusion. Now with Trump’s declaration of a national emergency and $50 billion being set aside, Google providing testing locations, drive-up testings, and many other things, it looks like it has made investors feel confident that we will be okay. So the stocks have gone up and on Monday, when stocks open again over the weekend, we should see it going up more.
So that’s the major event for today with Trump declaring a national emergency, $50 billion is made available, the FEMA is involved, the money will be allocated to state and local governments. It means you should see things happening in your state, in your local community. There might be an announcement of a testing center at a specific place. Maybe you can drive to take a swab test if you feel you have the virus.
I’m looking at some comments over here.
Okay, now I’m going to share the latest updates that coronavirus has had on us, some of the news. I have them listed here.
Currently, in the U.S., there are at least 1,700 cases of coronavirus. 41 people have died. Remember that as recently as two weeks ago, Trump said there were only 15 cases. He did say that maybe those 15 would go to zero, or maybe there would be more. Now there’s 1,700. This virus is very contagious and we already know that because China has over 80,000 cases. But recently China said they only had 8 new cases. So China is really exerting its control over people, telling them to stay put, closing everything down, and it appears the situation is far better there. So that’s how we can beat the virus, we have to shut things down.
The same goes for South Korea. They had a serious epidemic, but they are controlling it. Italy has 17,000 infected, a very high number. The whole country is in lockdown. Maybe in a few weeks Italy will see a downturn in cases. Iran also has a serious outbreak. Iran is now asking their military to intervene and control the virus. Today Spain reported 4,200 infected people. That’s the second most cases in Europe. The most is in Italy. Spain is in second place. The Spanish government has ordered a lockdown on several regions. Spain is now in a state of emergency. That’s a part of the reason why the U.S. government is restricting flights because of the outbreak in Europe. There’s an outbreak in the U.S. as well, though.
The Trump administration is now working with a Swiss company to develop a 3 1/2 hour coronavirus test kit. So it’ll be fast from swab to results. The U.S. government is now working with other companies to develop a one-hour test. There are not enough people being tested in the U.S. To compare, in South Korea, 10,000 people are being tested every day. The U.S. has not yet reached 15,000 tests all this time. It’s a big difference. But now with this national emergency, going forward, there should be many more tests. Those who test positive will have to stay home.
If we all, everyone in America was to stay at home, I’m hypothetically speaking, for three weeks, everybody staying put, it’ll go away because the virus can’t survive. It needs people so it can move through them. That’s what we are seeing now. Schools are staring to close, many big events are cancelled or delayed, and that’s how we can stop the virus.
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s wife Sophie announced last night that Sophie tested positive for the coronavirus. She recently went on a trip to London. After she came back, she was sick, and now she’s tested positive. She has mild symptoms, it’s not serious. Sophie will isolate herself. Trudeau said he is in good health and is not positive — he has not taken a test, I don’t know why he’s not getting a test — but he said he is isolating himself for 14 days. I’m not sure if he’ll separate himself or be with his wife. But both of them will be isolated for 14 days. Canada has 103 confirmed cases of coronavirus.
In Florida, in Miami… (coughs). Excuse me, I don’t have the disease, there’s just something stuck in my throat. The mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez, tested positive for coronavirus. The mayor of Miami. He was with the Brazilian delegation with President Trump. The Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro was tested, and he got a negative result.
There is a top Australian official who tested positive for coronavirus. That official met with Ivanka Trump and the Attorney General Bill Barr a few days ago. Ivanka Trump is staying at home today, working from home, out of caution. There is no positive tests though. So we see that the coronavirus can just go anywhere, it touches even the top people. Tom Hanks and his wife… today they updated us that they are doing good.
So we see that the coronavirus is not extremely deadly, as most recover, but it is very dangerous for those who are elderly or those who have compromised immune systems because of underlying health problems. It can be deadly. So that’s where for us who are healthy, if you say “I’m not worried,” you should think of them. You don’t want to pass it to them and they could die.
Some countries have closed their borders. India, Ireland, Denmark, and Poland. Their borders are closed.
The U.S. state of Louisiana announced they would postpone their Democratic primaries from April 4 by two months to June because of concerns with coronavirus. There are four states that are set to vote next week: Ohio, Arizona, Florida, and Illinois. I read in the New York Times that those four states will go on as planned with their elections. They are not postponing. But there will be safeguards in place. Maybe it will be additional hand sanitizers, or some kind of distancing. Four states will go forward with voting next week. That’s concerning because of the amount of people that will go through the polls. How will they make sure that the virus doesn’t spread? That’s their challenge, those four states.
Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California announced they are shutting down their parks this weekend through the end of the month. Disney said they would still pay their employees, which will be welcome news for the workers who may be concerned. They’ll still get their income.
With sports, there are more serious impacts from the coronavirus pandemic. The NHL announced their season would be suspended and put to a pause. The MLB is also suspending their spring training and postponing their 2020 season. I already mentioned yesterday that the NBA and the MLS are suspending their seasons. Today, the Masters golf tournament, the most prestigious tournament, is postponed. Also the Boston Marathon, a top race, is postponed. So, all the major sports leagues are postponing or suspending.
So that’s all for the top stories on coronavirus. The biggest news is Trump’s announcement of a national emergency with $50 billion in funds. We can wait for Google to make some kind of announcement, I did not see any specific website, I’m still waiting for that, but we can expect to see it, and if you feel sick and show symptoms, or if your family or friend is sick, you can go to the drive-by testing, and if you’re positive, you can stay home for 14 days. If everybody followed that, we can get rid of the coronavirus outbreak. We don’t want to see America turning out like Italy with 17,000 cases. Italy is smaller with 60 million people. Here in America we have over 300 million people. There are already 1,600 cases. So it’s concerning and we’ll have to settle down. It’s challenging because America is still… today I drove around and there are still cars everywhere. People are still working out at Planet Fitness, I saw the parking lot full of cars. Restaurants are still open. So we can expect for the virus to continue to spread until we start closing places and stopping things and go into self-quarantine. If more of us did this, we can see the virus go away.
For the deaf community, there are several news that’s come up, I’ll make another video post later today. Today is about things that are happening in the hearing world and how it’s affecting the deaf community. I’ll do a deaf news video. So, that’s all, thank you for watching. Stay safe, stay healthy. Bye.