Trump declares US emergency as coronavirus chaos spreads

U.S. President Donald Trump declared a national emergency over the quickly spreading coronavirus on Friday, opening the door to more federal aid to combat a disease that has infected over 138,000 people worldwide and left more than 5,000 dead.

The impact of the coronavirus on everyday life deepened around the world, and it was detected for the first time in several more countries. More schools and businesses closed to try to slow its spread, governments took other drastic steps, the global sporting calendar was left in tatters and people faced greater restrictions on where they could go.

“To unleash the full power of the federal government to this effort today, I am officially declaring a national emergency - two very big words,” Trump said in remarks at the White House, adding that the U.S. situation could worsen and “the next eight weeks are critical.”

Trump had faced criticism from some experts for being slow and ineffective in his response to the crisis and playing down the threat. The latest steps came two days after Trump announced travel restrictions blocking U.S. entry for most people from continental Europe. While he exempted Britain at the time, on Friday he said that might change because U.K. infections have “gone up fairly precipitously.”