WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump declared a national emergency over the coronavirus on Friday, unleashing billions of dollars in federal aid for state and local governments crippled by the fast-moving pandemic.
"I am officially declaring a national emergency _ two very big words," Trump said at a news conference in the White House Rose Garden. "The action I am taking will open up access to up to $50 billion of very important, very important, and a large amount of money for states and territories and localities in our shared fight against the disease."
The declaration, Trump said, would provide the Department of Health and Human Services with "maximum flexibility" to waive regulations governing the nation's hospitals.
"I am urging every state to set up emergency operation centers effective immediately," Trump said. "I'm also asking every hospital in this country to activate their emergency preparedness plan."
Trump said the administration had to partner with state and local governments to fight the expanding pandemic, and turned to private-sector laboratories, whose executives stood beside him in the Rose Garden, to rapidly increase the number of coronavirus tests available to Americans.
State and local officials have criticized the federal government for not furnishing adequate coronavirus tests.
Asked whether he considered the pace of testing a failure of his administration, Trump replied, "I don't take responsibility at all."
Trump also said interest on student loans held by the federal government would be waived, and promised more details would be coming on that.
Stock markets spiked as Trump vowed to fill the nation's strategic petroleum reserve "to the top" amid turbulence in the oil market. He did not provide details.
Several major cities and states have already declared emergencies of their own, including Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who made a state disaster declaration on Friday.
Members of Congress pleaded in recent days for more aggressive White House action to mitigate contagion.
As of Friday midday, 1,920 Americans have contracted COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, across 46 states, and 41 have died.
Trump said that the federal government would expand drive-through testing that some states had already adopted, and his coronavirus coordinator, Deborah Birx, previewed an online tool that will help those with potential coronavirus exposure and symptoms find the nearest location.
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said the national retailer would be working with the government to set up testing centers in its parking lots.
The White House has repeatedly said the president and vice president do not need to be tested, even though they came in contact with numerous individuals exposed to the coronavirus.
"We have no symptoms whatsoever," Trump said, adding later that he was likely to be tested in the future.
Trump sought to calm worries of the cruise line industry which has had passengers and crew test positive for the coronavirus. "We are with them all the way. It's a great business," Trump said. "It's a great U.S. business, frankly. And I know how important they are to the country. That includes airlines. But the cruise line business obviously was hit very hard."
He did not detail what financial steps he could take to help cruise companies that have suspended their operations, but said, "We will be helping them, and we will be helping the airline industry, if we have to, assuming we have to. So far people haven't been asking."
Vice President Mike Pence, also at the news conference, said the president had directed his administration to work with the cruise industry so that, "when we come through this, cruise lines are safer than ever before and can prosper for years to come."
In Washington State, the worst-affected state in the country burdened with the highest death toll, Gov. Jay Inslee said he had asked the White House on Thursday for the emergency declaration in order to provide distressed residents with supplemental health care, shelter, food and cash assistance.
"This will unlock additional resources and authorities for states like Washington on the front lines of this crisis," Inslee said in a statement. "It is incumbent on all of us to acknowledge the gravity of this public health emergency and take the necessary actions now _ not tomorrow, not next week _ to slow the spread of the virus and save lives."
Earlier this week, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote a letter co-signed by 35 Democratic senators asking Trump to make the declaration that would allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, to "utilize the more than $40 billion in disaster relief funds to aid state and local governments responding to coronavirus outbreak."
By invoking the Stafford Act, Trump has designated FEMA to coordinate the distribution of federal resources.
Pence leads the administration's coronavirus task force that includes leaders from many government agencies: the Department of Health and Human Services, the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.
It is a response reflective of rising national fears over the coronavirus, which has no treatment or vaccine. Local governments are limiting public gatherings, schools are closing for weeks, and businesses are increasingly asking their employees to work from home. Churches are advertising virtual worship services, theme parks have voluntarily closed and sports leagues canceled games to try and prevent the virus from spreading.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Seema Verma said that new guidance is coming for nursing homes, advising them to temporarily eliminate visiting hours except in certain scenarios such as end of life situations.
"We are doing what we must to protect our vulnerable elderly," she said.
Only one other president has sought Stafford Act powers in a public health crisis. Former President Barack Obama declared a national emergency in 2009 to utilize a similar set of emergency authorities during the H1N1 influenza pandemic. That declaration allowed public health officials to remove infected patients from overcrowded hospitals to secondary facilities.
On Capitol Hill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that she had reached a deal with the administration on a coronavirus relief package that would be voted on the floor on Friday.
The bill would provide two weeks of paid sick leave and family medical leave for those affected by the coronavirus, bolster unemployment insurance and ensure that those who rely on federal food assistance programs _ like free school lunches _ see no disruption.
It also would provide everyone with access to free coronavirus testing, including those without insurance.
It was the product of lengthy negotiations over the last 24 hours between Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. There was no immediate comment from the White House.
At the White House it was business as usual, although at least one official worked from home on Friday.
The president's daughter and senior advisor, Ivanka Trump, stayed home after an Australian official who met with her tested positive for coronavirus, White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere said in a statement.
Ivanka Trump, Kellyanne Conway and other White House officials posed for a photo with Australian Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton. Deere said Dutton "was asymptomatic during the interaction."
"Exposures from the case were assessed and the White House Medical Unit confirmed, in accordance with CDC guidance, that Ivanka is exhibiting no symptoms and does not need to self-quarantine," Deere said. "She worked from home today out of an abundance of caution until guidance was given."
Ivanka Trump's husband, Jared Kushner, another senior adviser to the president and a leading voice in the administration on the coronavirus response, worked from the White House on Friday, another official said.
