Coronavirus forces Donald Trump to declare a national emergency. This helps the government move funds to help fight the virus. Coronavirus has caused death to over 40 individuals in the United States, according to the New York Post.
Cases in the United States continued to grow in the United States. This will help to test for the virus and getting facilities for emergency shelters. Donald Trump stated that he has been working with different states to help.
He mentioned his conversation with Governor Cuomo of New York. Trump stated, “I just spoke with Gov.
Cuomo, we had a very good conversation, and we’re working very strongly with many states, including New York.” This is an example of it being a national emergency and not a state-level emergency.
Declaration of National Emergency helps government combat coronavirus
Donald Trump has the authority to announce a national emergency by the Stafford Act and the National Emergencies Act. This emergency allows the government to divert money in the budget to help combat the virus. This allows the government the funds to get proper testing done to help find the virus.
Dr. Anthony Fauci is the White House, coronavirus expert. As reported by Gateway Pundit, he testified before Congress on Thursday that the healthcare system is “failing.” There are not enough testing available in the United States.
Affects of Stafford Act on the national emergency declaration
The Stafford Act activates the Federal Emergency Management Agency to aid the states that ask for it. FEMA can go to the individual states and help with testing or setting up emergency shelters. This declaration gives Donald Trump the authority to uphold his promise of delaying taxes without penalty or fines.
This also helps Dr. Fauci combat the virus. This will give him individuals to help test and control the virus. It will also give him the ability to create quarantine zones of temporary hospitals.
National Emergencies Act used for declaration of national emergency
This act allows the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to divert funds.
They budget money in the prior year. They cannot use those funds for anything outside that budgeted role.
The secretary can now divert those funds and use it to fight the virus. This will help Dr. Fauci, who predicts that the virus could be an issue for another eight weeks. He said during a press conference the following, “It’s certainly going to get worse before it gets better… there’s no doubt we have not peaked yet.”
What else does emergency declaration help task force fight coronavirus?
Donald Trump expanded the power of Health and Human Service Secretary Alex Azar. It allows him to waive state or local laws to help healthcare workers. This allows him the flexibility to decide and not burdened by the laws of the land.
This declaration gives Secretary Azar the authority to open new hospitals or create quarantine areas. This would allow him to overtake buildings or other areas. The new powers would include possibly shutting down the United States to spread the disease.
During his press conference, he was quoted, “I’m not sure we’re going to get to that. I think that would be really rather dramatic, but I can tell you that all the things are on the table. We just have to respond as things evolve over the days and the weeks.” This was in response to the question of whether the United States would take the same steps as China and Italy. Their response was to stop movement in their countries. China was the reported origin of the coronavirus, and Italy was affected by more cases than the United States.
The possibility is open to shutting down the United States, according to Dr. Fauci.
This declaration gives the government the needed funds to combat coronavirus. This flexibility will help ease decisions and allow needed help for testing and treatment. Other countries have shown that the disease can be slowed down. Dr. Fauci stated, “Let’s look ahead, and I believe what we’re hearing at the task force that we are now getting into that phase where we’ll be able to really scale it up a lot. I think in the next week, or so, you’re going to see an acceleration of availability of tests.” The extra funds will help the task force in that scaling-up process. This will allow them to attack the spread of the virus instead of reacting to the virus.
