New York, March 19

Describing himself as a “wartime President”, Donald Trump has announced that he is invoking emergency powers which will allow private sector capacity to be used in responding to the coronavirus pandemic which has already killed more than 130 persons in the US. He also signed a $100 billion relief package.

Trump said he is invoking the Defense Production Act “in case we need it” as the country braces for a sharp spike in coronavirus caseload. With these emergency powers, the Trump administration can pull on the country’s installed industrial base to swiftly produce materials needed in a national crisis.

Briefing reporters at the White House, Trump said America’s battle against the “Chinese virus” is “like a war”. “It’s a very tough situation”, Trump said on a day of chilling economic impact when Detroit’s big three automakers — Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler — all decided to shut down their factories over coronavirus fears. With that one blow alone, more than 1,50,000 workers will be put out of work.

Trump also said he is sending a Navy hospital ship to New York City, which has the largest cluster of cases in the US.

The US government has also decided to “suspend foreclosures and evictions” through April as the looming threat of large scale unemployment threatens millions of Americans. It is now nearly 60 days since the first US case surfaced and testing at scale remains an issue across the country till date. — IANS