With Covid-19 circumstances reported in all 50 states on Wednesday, President Donald Trump introduced that the federal government would require the non-public sector to provide extra medical provides and the US-Canada border will likely be closed, amongst different measures to assist comprise the virus.
The number of US coronavirus cases climbed to over 7,500 on March 18. Residents of the San Francisco space have been requested to “shelter in place,” and the Senate was poised to vote on a coronavirus reduction invoice that may, amongst different provisions, provide paid sick depart to sure American employees.
Trump — who repeatedly downplayed the danger of the virus earlier than an abrupt change in tone Monday — described the present atmosphere as one in all wartime, combating an “invisible enemy.”
“I view it as, in a way, a wartime president,” he mentioned. “I imply, that’s what we’re combating. I imply, it’s a really powerful scenario right here.”
However — at a press convention the place he introduced additional restrictions on vacationers — he additionally frequently tried to painting the virus as a overseas risk, characterizing it as a “Chinese language virus.”
Challenged on whether or not that was a racist time period, Trump answered: “It’s not racist in any respect, by no means,” he mentioned. “It comes from China. That’s why. It comes from China.”
Trump dismissed considerations that Chinese language-People are being wrongfully focused on account of his determination to explain the virus as a “Chinese language virus.” However, as Rachel Ramirez wrote for Vox, “There have been innumerable reports of bodily and verbal assaults in opposition to Asians in addition to misinformation and harmful imagery online that play into stereotypes.”
Listed here are six issues the administration promised to do on Wednesday, and the way they match into the unfolding battle in opposition to coronavirus within the US:
1) Trump is invoking the Protection Manufacturing Act to provide key medical provides
Trump mentioned that he’s invoking the Defense Production Act, a wartime legislation that may enable the federal government to harness the non-public sector to provide medical tools essential to fight the unfold of coronavirus.
The federal government will likely be focusing on manufacturing of medical masks, together with N-95 masks that may assist defend well being personnel from contracting the virus, in addition to ventilators to assist sufferers with acute signs breathe. The federal government has ordered thousands and thousands of masks, however that the US will want thousands and thousands extra, Trump mentioned.
The US at present has greater than 10,000 ventilators, and the Pentagon has offered up a few of their very own, however the administration anticipates needing 1000’s extra.
“Now we have great numbers of ventilators, however there’s by no means been an occasion like this the place it doesn’t matter what you’ve, it’s by no means sufficient,” he mentioned. “It is a very unexpected factor.”
2) The US-Canada border will likely be closed for non-essential journey
Trump additionally announced that the US and Canada had mutually determined to shut their shared border for non-essential journey for recreation and tourism. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose spouse not too long ago tested positive for coronavirus, clarified that commerce would proceed so as to protect the 2 nations’ provide chains for meals, gasoline, and medicines.
Trudeau had already closed Canada’s borders to noncitizens — apart from People — on Monday. The US has additionally imposed restrictions on vacationers coming from China and Europe, which specialists say aren’t more likely to considerably abate the unfold of the virus given the present degree of neighborhood unfold inside the US. Thus far, the one nations which have explicitly blocked US vacationers are Argentina and Guatemala.
3) The Division of Housing and City Growth will droop some foreclosures and evictions
The social distancing and quarantines meant to battle the virus are proving devastating to total industries, together with eating places and hospitality, and will depart employees in these fields and hourly employees unable to pay their payments.
To alleviate the monetary burden on householders affected by the virus, Trump mentioned that the federal authorities is suspending foreclosures and evictions till the top of April.
It wasn’t instantly clear who can be lined by the suspension, although it can reportedly apply solely to householders with mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration, which underwrites inexpensive dwelling loans issued by non-public lenders. The Federal Housing Finance Company individually announced on Wednesday that it could equally droop foreclosures and evictions for these with mortgages underwritten by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.
4) The US will flip away asylum seekers on the US-Mexico border
Trump mentioned he’s not going to shut the US-Mexico border as of now, however he will likely be prohibiting the entry of asylum seekers and people who attempt to cross with out authorization on the southern border, doubtless afterward Wednesday. He mentioned he would invoke a provision in federal immigration legislation that permits the US to droop journey from any nation that poses “critical hazard” of the introduction of “communicable illness.”
To an extent, most asylum seekers have been already prevented from getting into the US by way of numerous insurance policies Trump had enacted, however this might give the administration one other software to show them away.
Since February 2016, the Trump administration’s insurance policies on the border have compelled migrants to attend in Mexico for months at a time. US Customs and Border Safety officials have been limiting the variety of asylum seekers they course of at ports of entry every day, making migrants wait for his or her flip in Mexico, the place migrant shelters are at capability.
Even after migrants are processed, they’re rapidly despatched again to Mexico underneath the Trump administration’s “Stay in Mexico” coverage, formally generally known as the Migrant Safety Protocols (MPP). Greater than 60,000 migrants have been despatched again to await selections on their US asylum functions.
Trump may now successfully shut the door on asylum seekers totally on account of the coronavirus pandemic — a transfer that may doubtless face authorized challenges.
The specter of coronavirus spreading from Mexico at present appears to be comparatively low. As of March 18, there have been solely about 90 reported circumstances and no deaths reported in Mexico.
Furthermore, it may solely put asylum seekers in greater danger. 1000’s of migrants have been dwelling for months on the US-Mexico border in makeshift encampments, the place they depend on volunteers for fundamental requirements and are focused by prison gangs whereas they await an opportunity to use for asylum within the US. They’ve little means to cope with a public well being disaster in such situations, however volunteers have been getting ready for the likelihood that coronavirus spreads to the camps.
5) Docs will likely be allowed to observe throughout state borders
Medical professionals can now observe throughout state traces so as to assist hospitals in hospitals in hotspots of transmission to extend their capability, Trump introduced.
A recent analysis by researchers on the Imperial School London discovered that even strict efforts to delay the unfold of the virus — together with case isolation, dwelling quarantine, and social distancing — “would nonetheless end in an 8-fold increased peak demand on vital care beds over and above the obtainable surge capability in … the US.”
The federal government has already requested People to delay elective medical procedures to liberate healthcare assets, together with personnel and tools, and to guard sufferers from contracting the virus in medical amenities.
Previous to the coronavirus pandemic, the US was already going through an imminent scarcity of medical doctors: the Affiliation of American Medical Schools estimates that it may attain 46,900 to 121,900 physicians by 2032. Rural areas, the place medical doctors are already in short supply, may very well be significantly laborious hit.
6) The US is sending hospital ships to NYC
Trump mentioned he has despatched two hospital ships with capability for 1,000 sufferers, together with working rooms, to New York on the request of Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The state has been significantly laborious hit by the virus, with 2,382 circumstances as of March 18. In New York Metropolis alone, 1,339 individuals have examined constructive, and a portion of town of New Rochelle can be underneath lockdown.
Cuomo had previously ordered the Nationwide Guard and constructing builders to remodel present areas, together with dormitories and former nursing houses, into non permanent hospitals so as to add an estimated 9,000 beds to the 53,000 which are already obtainable. Cuomo has additionally been pressing the Trump administration to order the Military Corps of Engineers and the US army to create non permanent hospitals within the state.