NEW: President Trump to Declare National Emergency to Fight Coronavirus

Friday, March 13, 2020
GoLocalPDX News Team

President Trump will declare a national emergency.

President Donald Trump is expected to declare a national emergency on Friday due to the outbreak of coronavirus, according to NBC News.

“I will be having a news conference today at 3 p.m. The White House. Topic: Coronavirus,” Trump tweeted on Friday.

According to NBC, declaring an emergency would allow more direct relief to Americans affected by the coronavirus.

The move could help open up tens of billions of dollars to fight the virus.

The declaration of a national emergency comes two days after Trump canceled all travel to and from Europe. 

That ban takes effect on Friday night.

Coronavirus in U.S. 

According to CNN, the coronavirus has infected over 128,000 people and killed nearly 4,718 across the globe. 

The U.S. has over 1,311 cases of the virus with 38 deaths. 

In Rhode Island, there have been five confirmed cases of coronavirus.