In a roller-coaster day of coronavirus-related events, President Donald Trump was expected to declare a national emergency Friday in a bid to speed up the U.S. response to the crisis.
The move, aimed at both reassuring the public and the financial markets, would enable federal officials to direct billions of dollars in federal disaster money to response teams fighting the virus. Trump was scheduled to hold a news conference at 3 p.m. EDT.
Word of the announcement comes amid efforts by the House to agree with the administration on a massive federal response to the crisis following a week of huge swings in on Wall Street.
The statement would be the latest in a series of several high profile events by the president, including the an Oval Office statement that got mixed reviews.
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The administration stepped up its efforts in the immediate aftermath of the World Health Organization's formal declaration of the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic and the global death toll surpassed 5,000. Confirmed cases in the U.S. exceeded 1,700, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday there have been 41 deaths.
The fallout from the coronavirus crisis keeps coming, with schools shutting down, iconic sports events postponed, and political actors weighing in.
Here's the latest on the outbreak of COVID-19:
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Pelosi: House to pass economic stimulus bill aimed at boosting virus testing
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday that the House would pass an economic stimulus package aimed at boosting testing for the coronavirus and to help people displaced economically by the crisis.
"The three most important parts of this bill are testing, testing, testing," she said in a televised statement. She said it would provide for coronavirus testing for everyone who needs a test — including the uninsured.
It also will secure paid leave, with two weeks of paid sick leave and family and medical leave, for those affected by the virus, she said.
The speaker called the packages "evidence-based" in its effort to tackle the virus crisis. Although some Republicans have dismissed earlier versions of the bill as a Democratic "wish-list," Pelosi negotiated the final deal with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Read more updates from Washington here.
Louisiana will delay presidential primary
Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin announced Friday he has requested to delay the state's presidential primary for two months due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.
The presidential primary was slated for April 4, but will be moved to June 20.
According to the Monroe, La., Advertiser, Gov. John Bel Edwards will grant the delay.
Louisiana is the only state that has announced it will delay its primaries due to coronavirus.
– Rebecca Morin
FDA, HHS take steps to speed up virus testing
In an effort to speed up testing for the coronavirus, the Food and Drug Administration says it has given New York state wide latitude to approve testing locally and has created a 24-hour emergency hotline for labs having difficulty getting materials or finding other impediments to running tests.
The FDA said in a statement that it will allow the New York State Department of Health to authorize certain labs to begin testing patients after validating their tests and without first having to notify the FDA.
"These labs will interact solely with (the New York State Department of Health) which should expedite the availability of patient testing in New York State," said FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn. He said the decision "demonstrates FDA’s responsiveness to the needs of our country during this time.”
In a related move, the Department of Health and Human Services says it is giving more than $1.2 million to two companies that are working on diagnostic tests that might be able to determine within an hour whether a patient tests positive for the coronavirus-related disease.
Fauci sees 'major escalation' is testing in next two weeks
Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, says the frustrating delay in testing for the disease is getting untangled and that predicts a "major escalation" in a week or two in widespread access to them.
Fauci told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Friday that the major involvement of the private sector in the testing process will shortly break a logjam that has limited testing for the virus.
Acknowledging said a "disconnect" in the past few weeks, he said: "Hopefully this is behind us.
"Within a week we are going to see a real escalation of testing and within two or three weeks we will see major progress," Fauci said.
On Thursday, Fauci told Congress that the nation’s testing record to date was “a failing.”
“The idea of anybody getting it easily the way people in other countries are doing it, we’re not set up for that. Do I think we should be? Yes. But we’re not,” he testified.
More on COVID-19 tests: Coronavirus test component is in short supply
New York City suburb opens drive-thru virus test facility
A drive-thru coronavirus testing facility opened Friday in New Rochelle, a New York City suburb that has been hit especially hard by by spreading disease.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday that that testing at the site, which he called the first of its kind on the East Eoast, will be available by appointment only.
New Rochelle residents — particularly those who have been quarantined — will be tested first, though all Westchester County residents will be eligible to make an appointment. As of Thursday, New York had 328 confirmed coronavirus cases, with 148 of those in Westchester County.
The drive-up site features six lanes where medical personnell take swabs and send them to BioReference Laboratories for testing. The whole process takes about 15 minutes, Cuomo said.
The drive-thru was opened after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced it had granted New York permission to authorize 28 private labs to begin testing
– Matt Spillane and Jon Campbell, Rockland/Westchester Journal News
New infections soar in Italy, Spain
Virus-related deaths in Italy have made their biggest single day jump — 250 — as new infections in Italy soared by more than 2,500. On Friday, three weeks to the day since the country identified its first virus cluster in the north, Italy had a total of 17,600 confirmed cases, with 1,266 deaths.
“Europe has now become the epicenter of the pandemic with more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined, apart from China,” said World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “More cases are now being reported every day than were reported in China at the height of its epidemic.”
New infections also rose sharply in Spain, where the government put 60,000 people in four towns on a mandatory lockdown Friday.
In Madrid, many of the 2,000 infections are in nursing homes, the government was pooling intensive care units and considering offers by hotel chains to transform rooms into sick wards.
— Associated Press
Masters tourney, Boston Marathon postponed
Following the lead of other major sports events, two iconic sports events — the Masters golf tournament and the Boston Marathon — have been postponed.
The golf tournament that was set to begin April 9 will be postponed indefinitely, the Augusta National Golf Club announced Friday, while Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said the Boston Marathon will be rescheduled for Sept. 14.
The Augusta National Golf Club's decision to postpone golf’s first major of the season comes 12 hours after PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan canceled the Players Championship after one round and declared all Tour events canceled through the Valero Texas Open, which is the tournament that precedes the Masters.
Among other sports, Major League Baseball announced Thursday that it is halting spring training games and will delay Opening Day by at least two weeks due to the outbreak of coronavirus. The regular season was scheduled to begin on March 26.
The NBA suspended its season indefinitely Wednesday night after Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tested positive for the virus. Teammate Donovan Mitchell has also tested positive. The NHL followed suit and "paused" its season on Thursday, as did Major League Soccer.
And the NCAA, which on Wednesday said it would play its men's and women's tournaments without fans, gave in to the inevitable Thursday and canceled them.
– Jesse Yomtov, Bob Nightengale, Dan Wolken and Adam Schupak
Stocks rebound after Wall Street's worst day since 1987
Stocks rebounded Friday on hopes for a coronavirus aid package from Washington after Wall Street's worst day since the "Black Monday” crash of 1987.
The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 700 points, a day after plunging 2,352 points, or 10%, for its worst loss since its nearly 23% drop on Oct. 19, 1987.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 surged 4%. The broad index tumbled more than 20% from its February record Thursday, sliding into a bear market and officially ending Wall Street’s historic 11-year bull market run.
The rout has come amid cancellations and shutdowns across the world, including Trump’s suspension of most travel to the U.S. from Europe. Worries have grown that the White House and other authorities around the world can’t or won’t counter the economic damage from the outbreak any time soon, threatening to end the decade-long economic expansion.
– Jessica Menton
More market news: European shares rebound after turbulent Asian session
The coronavirus economy: As Americans shy away from malls and movie theaters, the damage to livelihoods grows
Schools across country to shut down for weeks
Five states and several large urban school districts are shutting down all K-12 schools as part of a sweeping attempt to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
Ohio, Maryland, Oregon, New Mexico, Michigan and the District of Columbia have ordered all schools closed, and the governor has recommended closing all schools in Kentucky. Large urban school districts such as Atlanta, Denver, Seattle, San Francisco and Austin, Texas, have also shuttered.
The actions are the first wave of widespread school closures in the U.S., and they stand to upend school and family routines for millions of children.
Such closures will also throw into sharp relief the deep socioeconomic divides in American education. Disadvantaged families who rely the most on schools for stable services, such as meals and access to learning materials, will be some of the most negatively affected. Read more here.
– Erin Richards and Jessie Balmert
Mormon church suspends church services worldwide
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has suspended services for more than 30,000 congregations worldwide as the new coronavirus spreads.
The Utah-based faith, popularly known as the Mormon church, said in a statement Thursday that the decision, effectively immediately, was made after counseling with local church leaders, government officials and medical professionals and seeking "the Lord's guidance in these matters."
The church urged local leaders to "conduct any essential leadership meetings via technology" and to counsel with other local leaders to determine how to make sacrament available to members at least once a month.
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Airbnb to issue refunds
Airbnb has updated its "extenuating circumstances" policy to cover the U.S., a marked change as the coronavirus spreads across the globe.
This policy means that hosts and guests impacted by the coronavirus outbreak will be able to cancel their homes reservation or Airbnb Experience without getting charged for reservations booked on or before March 13, 2020 with check-in date of April 1, 2020, or earlier . Read more here.
– David Oliver
Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, wife of Canadian PM, tests positive
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, has tested positive for coronavirus, according to a statement Thursday from Cameron Ahmad, communications director for the prime minster. "Following medical advice, she will remain in isolation for the time being. She is feeling well, is taking all recommended precautions, and her symptoms remain mild," Ahmad said. Prime Minister Trudeau isn't showing symptoms, but will be in an isolation period for 14 days.
US death toll at 41, with more than 1,700 confirmed cases
Pelosi said Friday the U.S. death toll was at 41.
There have been at least 31 in Washington and others in California, Florida, Georgia New Jersey and South Dakota.
There were more than 1,700 confirmed cases covering nearly the entire map, according to USA TODAY data gathering. The only states without reported cases: Alaska, Idaho, Maine, Montana and West Virginia. Montana is listed among states with confirmed cases in some databases; however, the lone Big Sky State case involves a local woman who tested positive while in Maryland and has not returned home.
Map: Which states have coronavirus cases?
Here's a look at which U.S. states have reported cases of COVID-19:
More on the outbreak of COVID-19:
- US coronavirus map: Tracking the outbreak
- Rome is no longer Rome: What is it like to live through a quarantine
- Is Census Bureau 'equipped' for 2020? Lawmakers aren't so sure
- Is it safe to ride? Coronavirus fears are challenging public transit across US
Contributing: Steve Kiggins and Dennis Wagner, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
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