The White House scrambles to clarify key details from Trump’s speech announcing his coronavirus response – By Grace Panetta (Business Insider) / March 11 2020
- The Trump administration and other officials scrambled to walk back three crucial components of President Donald Trump’s nationally-televised address on the US’ response to the novel coronavirus, COVID-19.
- After Trump announced a 30-day ban on travel from most of Europe to the United States, the Department of Homeland Security clarified that it would exclude US citizens and permanent residents.
- Trump also issued a tweet stating that trade of goods between the US and Europe would not be halted after saying the exact opposite in his speech, when he said the ban “will not only apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo but various other things.”
- A major US health insurance industry group contradicted Trumps’ claim that major health insurers would waive co-payments on coronavirus treatments, clarifying the waivers would apply to testing.
Minutes after President Donald Trump delivered a major address on the administration’s response to the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, his own administration and other US officials publicly contradicted three important claims from his speech.
Trump and the officials quickly walked back his nationally-televised statements that 1) the administration would ban all travel from Europe to the United States, 2) the ban would also apply to trade and cargo between the US and Europe, and 3) major health insurers would waive co-pays on coronavirus treatment.
The outbreak of the new coronavirus, first identified in China, has now spread to 118 countries and regions, infecting an estimated 126,000 people and causing over 4,600 deaths reported worldwide. On Wednesday, the World Health Organization officially declared the coronavirus a pandemic.
There are now over 1,300 reported cases and 38 deaths from the coronavirus reported in the United States. Teh cases are spread throughout Washington, DC and 38 states, many of which have declared a state of emergency.
The US has been relatively slow to respond to the coronavirus compared to other nations, testing far fewer people per capita for the coronavirus and dispatching fewer coordinated resources to combat its spread as President Donald Trump has publicly downplayed its severity.
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