Donald Trump has announced new measures to tackle the coronavirus crisis, including expanding the existing US travel ban to travelers from the UK and Ireland.
In a lunchtime briefing at the White House, the president also confirmed he had taken a test for the virus himself, although the result was not yet available.
“I decided I should,” he said.
Trump had come under pressure after exposure to sufferers including a member of Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s entourage in Florida last weekend.
In a statement on Friday Trump’s physician, Dr Sean Conley, said there was no need to quarantine the president or implement a test. Trump’s encounter with Bolsonaro aide Fabio Wajngarten was “low risk”, the doctor said, adding that another Mar-a-Lago guest who has tested positive also interacted with the president.
On Saturday, Trump told the media he had taken a test after all. His daughter Ivanka Trump, a White House adviser, entered self-isolation on Friday after meeting an Australian politician later revealed to have tested positive.
News of Trump’s test followed days of controversy highlighted by his continuing to shake hands with people, even as official advice recommended “social distancing”.
“It becomes a habit. People walk up to me, they shake hands, it’s kind of a natural reflex,” Trump said. “Shaking hands is not a great thing to be doing right now, I tend to agree.”
Trump said he took his test on Friday night and would await the result for “two days, whatever it is”.
He also trailed the extension of the travel ban, already in place for 26 European nations.
“We’re looking at it very seriously because they’ve had a little bit of activity, unfortunately,” he said. “We have already looked at it actually. That is going to be announced.”
The vice-president, Mike Pence, duly announced that the UK and Ireland would be subject to the ban from midnight US eastern time on Monday.
Trump also welcomed legislation passed by the US House that will help fund paid sick leave, unemployment insurance, free testing and other measures to help Americans affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
“It will provide strong support for American families and communities in dealing with the coronavirus,” Trump said.
Nonetheless, the administration’s response to the outbreak remains subject to extensive criticism, particularly after a press conference on Friday.
In the White House Rose Garden, Trump announced a national emergency, paving the way for billions of dollars to be made accessible to federal and state authorities attempting to slow the fast-moving pandemic.
“It opened up avenues we would never be able to open up without it,” he said at the Saturday briefing. “It will make more than $50bn available to us in disaster relief funds. And that’s available for states, territories and local governments.
“A lot of people are benefiting from it.”
But on Friday he also announced a new self-diagnosis website created by Google, only for the tech giant to deny the project was on anything like the scale outlined; said “I don’t take responsibility at all” when asked why the US lagged behind other countries in testing; and reacted angrily to a question about why a White House office for pandemic response was closed in 2018.
According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC), there are 1,629 cases of coronavirus in the US with 41 deaths, and 46 states and the District of Columbia have reported infections. Other estimates, including Trump’s on Saturday, are higher.
Concerns have been expressed that the US does not have enough hospital beds or ventilators to deal with the crisis. As many as 20% of coronavirus infections could require patients to receive mechanical ventilation. If estimates of more than 1m infections prove accurate, there could me more than 200,000 such severe cases.
According to a Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security study based on data from 2010, US acute care hospitals own about 62,000 full-featured mechanical ventilators. The study, published in February, reported an additional 98,000 ventilators that can provide basic function.
The CDC Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) has an estimated 8,900 ventilators that can be shipped within a day or so. At the White House on Friday, Trump said: “We have ordered a large number of respirators just in case.”
Across the US, authorities have declared emergencies, closed schools and restricted public gatherings. In New York City the largest public school system in the US remains open, a key source of support for millions. Pressure on the mayor, Bill de Blasio, is increasing.
New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, announced on Saturday that the state had recorded its first coronavirus fatality, an 82-year-old woman with pre-existing medical issues. Cuomo said the state had 524 confirmed cases, 117 hospitalised, and said officials believe thousands have the virus.
On Capitol Hill, the relief bill passed just before 1am, after two days of talks between the treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, and the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi. Agreement came after Trump signaled his support for Democrat-drafted measures.
Pelosi thanked Democrats for their patience. Trump and the speaker, who publicly clashed at the State of the Union address in January, never communicated directly on coronavirus relief and Trump did not thank Pelosi directly at the White House on Saturday.
The legislation now goes to the Senate, where it is expected to pass. It ensures free testing for those who need it while increasing access to benefits including family medical leave, paid sick leave, unemployment insurance, spending on health insurance for the poor and food programmes for children and the elderly.
On Friday, a federal judge blocked an administration attempt to force nearly 700,000 people off food stamps, a key benefit for poor Americans. In her ruling, district court judge Beryl Howell cited the coronavirus outbreak and said the attempted action was capricious, arbitrary and probably unlawful.
The economic impact of the impact continued on Saturday, as Apple announced that all stores outside China would close for two weeks.
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